Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze
by kjeld
Summary: Naruto, travels back in time to change the future, everybody he knows is dead. He is unable to travel back in time but ends up traveling to a new reality in a different time period. AU. Time Travel. Definitely Kurenai/Yugao/Naruto maybe Koyuki and Mei also. First story ever, erratic updates, it is now more readable. Rated M for now, who knows what could happen in the future.
1. Chapter 01 The Outsider

**Sorry I just noticed I forgot breaks in the story. Now edited for niceness and grammar errors, probably won't change until later if I deem so.**

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><p>A massive flux of chakra appeared between the partially destroyed statues of Hashirama and Madara, visible in multiple different colours fanning out, kicking up the wind and destroying everything in the vicinity. A resounding explosion occurred as a body in a standard black Anbu outfit with a fox mask and black cloak appeared on the ground, lying unconscious in a new world.<p>

Naruto appeared at the destroyed valley of end freeing himself of his burden and taking one anew. A chance to make it right for everyone, all of Konoha can be saved and the whole ninja world. He had no idea what time he was in but hopefully he was far back enough to save everybody from Madara.

_'You guys still there' _as Naruto begun stirring from severe chakra exhaustion.

**'Yeah were still here, though it is strange that there is so little repercussions for time travel, were still in one piece surprisingly' **but he was incredibly faint, almost non-existent.

_'Hopefully we made it Kurama,'_ thought Naruto as he attempted to get up but only failed and collapsed again feeling the weakness of chakra exhaustion, something he hadn't felt before on years.

**'We did, I can feel part of myself as can the others, though we are all drained and need rest so there is no need to start moving yet' said Kurama. A pause later 'and you are severely drained of chakra, don't move or you might die.'**

_'I will be fine, will the other Biju know about us?' _The world was not ready to know that someone had all nine Biju

**'We will supress our chakra to the limit so they can't sense us' said Kurama. 'No one will know.'**

Except for the dying part Naruto felt pure happiness at a second chance then tears built up in his eyes due to the great guilt at abandoning his life._ 'We will save the other Jinchuuriki this time it is our duty to make up for the future we failed to give,' _he thought throwing on a wistful smile.

**'Remember you are not the Naruto they know, you are someone else besides there wasn't much of a life to live with all your friends dead, and all the ninja from every village wiped out' said Gyuki.**

**'This is a new beginning to start over and change things for the better but only change what you can and try to keep the future somewhat predictable' added Kurama.**

As Naruto got up hours later after partially recovering from exhaustion he made his way to Konoha or at least in the direction he thought it was in he started making plans with his Biju to save all the lives lost. Missions to complete, Sarutobi to save and most importantly the Uchiha massacre to stop. One of the key clans in the war that can assist in fighting Madara, Shisui must survive as he is the crux of the stability of Konoha and the Uchiha clan stability.

_'Everything looks so different now, but it's nice to see everything living again,'_ while glancing at the forest around them.

**'You only truly realise the value on something once it has been lost, though there needs to be more sand around here' stated Shukaku.**

**'Idiot, it's more fun to destroy the forest than a barren wasteland of desert tanuki' smirked Kurama.**

_'Hey, hey no fighting we are stuck together so we better make the best of it, besides we have more pressing tasks to think of then what to do in a forest'_ smirked Naruto as he slowed down near the outskirts of Konoha, suppressing his chakra to the utmost limits.

"Now let's see what year we are in, hopefully we made it far back enough to save the Uchiha clan at least." Said Naruto as he looked at his father's head from the outcrop. Sadly he couldn't go far back enough even with the chakra of nine Biju.

**'Naruto you can't change everything, some things are meant to happen' said Kurama warningly.**

Nodding, "Now all I need is a Biju version of Neji, talking about fate" he muttered. _'Then I will try to alter it at least if I can't change it' _

Naruto walked up to the Barrier from behind the Hokage monument, with chakra enhanced vision he could see the barrier surrounding the village made by the Nidaime Hokage. Observing the seal and slightly altering it temporarily to gain access to the village undetected was child's play for him now, mastering sealing was important when you wanted to hide from Uchiha Madara. He walked atop his father's head to bask in the first sign of real ninja he had seen for many years. Observing the streets and people alive reminiscing from the times he was a child and sat atop his father's head and looking for his favourite ramen stand.

_"Naruukoo get back here!" _Looking down he saw a girl, clearly feeling the Kyuubi chakra in her.

"Ehhh" cried Naruto as he saw his younger albeit female seven year old counterpart painting the Hokage monument in shock and then sadness at the realization of where they were. Immediately Kurama and Gyuki were laughing their tails off being the only Biju that new Naruto before the war, though they stifled it after. Also coming to the same realization.

**'It's not surprising that it is impossible to travel back in time, just shift to another reality at a different point in time. Though she is just like you, and now I know what you would look like as a girl' laughed Kurama as he smacked his tails all over the place.**

_'You're probably just laughing at how immature the host of yourself is, but who knows maybe you are a girl here to.' _Scoffed Naruto.

Silenced rained in Naruto's mindscape as Kurama digested that statement thinking of the possibilities of himself as a female. "You might fall in love with yourself like a true narcissist" said Naruto in glee.

**'Eh, eh, idiot… you just called yourself immature!' sputtered Kurama defensively as the other Biju were laughing at both of them, especially Shukaku.**

_'What I'm five, do you really expect a mature seven year old'_ as he crossed his arms, _'you're expecting a lot out of a child'_

**'Yes, Itachi was mature while it took you sixteen years and even then you were still childish.' Smirked Kurama.**

"Idiot… well I've changed now it's Naruko's turn to be the child apparently, and she will get the childhood she deserves." Said Naruto in melancholy as he was thinking of all his friends that he lost, he was now truly alone except with his Biju to keep him company. As he entered sage mode he could feel Itachi as well as Shisui in the village, solidifying the fact that this was a new world for him.

**'New bonds can always be made though I don't think you can be the brother of Naruko unless Minato and Kushina had you when they were ten' stated Gyuki.**

_'Yeah, but now I can meet all the jounin and piss off Kakashi for reading his porn all the time'_ grinned Naruto deviously as he thought of all the possibilities, _'got any idea's guys I need a cover.'_

**'Well you look like a clone of Minato so with the help of Hiruzen you can pretend to be his brother maybe but Danzo won't fall for it he is suspicious of everything' thought Kurama. 'Make sure nobody gets your blood that you don't trust or else they will find out and try to exploit you.'**

'Hmm, well that could work and maybe if we pretended to be on a mission for Minato to help find a way for Naruko to control your chakra' thought Naruto, as he heard no complaints he threw on his cloaks hood, took out a Hiraishin kunai and threw it towards the roof of Ramen Ichiraku then disappeared in a yellow flash. Obviously not planning to work anytime soon.

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><p>Standing atop the stand Naruto basked in the smell of the ramen stand, remembering the stand being destroyed by Pain the first time and then again by the Juubi. Tears filled his eyes as he remembered when he managed to make it back to Konoha after the Juubi let loose its rage from trapped in the moon.<p>

To understand its rage at being caged for thousands of years and trying to forgive it but knowing it is impossible when surrounded by the mass of dead bodies almost leading him to madness. Friends and families all gone with corpses everywhere in what was left of the village that had not been blown away by a bijudama, reminded again that he was truly alone.

_'We will fix everything we can, the villages will live on, and we will keep our lost friends in our hearts' _stated Naruto with great determination, clenching his fists as he made the resolution.

The Biju were silent because they remembered the emotions of the Juubi, the rage from confinement doing nothing, able to do nothing, alone, a spectator for years. They all remembered the emotions going through them as they rampaged through the village and charged a bijudama, people in true fear knowing their death was coming, and watching in satisfaction when half the village turned to ash in the explosion. The disgust they felt at mindless destruction of people especially Saiken, one of the few naturally friendly Biju, having memories of blatant killing.

**'This is our compensation to the lives we are responsible for, the people we must save to make up for our second chance to right the wrongs' thought Kurama.**

Naruto recovered his happy outlook on the future with his partners and hopped down to the ground and strolled into the ramen stand. Happiness filled him when gazing upon a very much alive Teuchi and Ayame serving Customers.

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><p>Some of the ninja watched uncomfortably as Naruto walked in, from his posture they could tell he was dangerous even without the Anbu mask. Just the aura he gave off was immense and threatening causing anxiety and a few younger ninja started to sweat profusely in fear even, but thankfully it receded when he got up to the counter.<p>

"Hello I would like four bowls of beef ramen and four bowls of miso ramen" the man joyfully asked, and all the ninja were shocked, stunned even at the sudden change in character.

"Are you sure you can handle that" said Teuchi as he took stock of the Anbu. Surprised that someone would be asking for so much.

"Yes" was the only answer he got and he along with the other ninja watched eight bowls of ramen disappear and afterwards a few more before the Anbu left the store satisfied.

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><p>"It is just the way I remembered it" grinned Naruto raising his hands up in the air as he made his way to the Hokage tower. Knowing that the ninja would not allow a stranger to meet the Hokage he snuck to the side of the building and using the Meisaigakure no Jutsu he camouflaged himself as he walked up the side of the tower. Naruto had long since surpassed Anbu level shinobi and most Kage level shinobi in sneaking making him completely undetectable to ninja, though it only inflated his very own ego.<p>

"Who are you?" said the Sandaime Hokage as Naruto snuck in through the window of the Kage office, which was luckily empty of other ninja except the now tense Anbu hidden in the corners of the office.

_'Almost undetectable' _Naruto amended in his mind as he heard his partners snicker in his mind at his bruised ego.

**'Serves you right, you already had a big mouth now you can't replace that with a false confidence' roared Kurama with mirth.**

Reassembling his bruised ego "I would like a personal conversation with you Jiji, alone" stated Naruto before he reappeared in the chair In front of the desk. Not a second later four blades were at Naruto's neck and various other vital spots on his person.

"What makes you think I will trust an intruder so easily when they have broken into my village undetected, who knows how much damage you could have done in the time you have been wandering around" spoke Sarutobi sternly while eying the ninja suspiciously.

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><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen was calmly struggling in his office with the endless river of paperwork, stacks everywhere even on the floor, one thought had gone through his mind at the time <em>'Damn you Minato you must have wanted to quit after this paperwork, I should have given this job to Danzo'<em> after which he amended the statement because chances are Danzo would have made the villagers emotionless by now.

Then he sensed a slight chakra disturbance, almost imperceptible to him "Who are you?" he said as he stopped working and narrowed his eyes. Knowing the Anbu tensed he wasn't surprised to find that they did not sense the intruders presence.

"I would like a personal conversation with you Jiji, alone" stated the intruder not asked as he appeared in the seat in front of him, Sarutobi knew all too well that the intruder was intending to get it regardless of the circumstances as he watched the Anbu surround him. He could tell the intruder was not afraid of the Anbu, he did not tense just sat there calmly which obviously meant he knew where the Anbu were hidden previously, which led him to believe the intruder was easily a high Jounin level shinobi if not greater.

"What makes you think I will trust an intruder so easily when they have broken into my village undetected, who knows how much damage you could have done in the time you have been wandering around" as he eyed him for possible threat.

"If need be you can bring in Itachi and Shisui Uchiha of the Anbu as well" Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock, not only because he knew other shinobi in the Anbu but two of the most loyal Uchiha in the village. Knowing this must be important enough he sent one of the Anbu to fetch them.

The ninja stood in silence as they studied the intruder and tried to identify the village where the ninja came from. Sarutobi could not identify the chakra signature even though it was so familiar and powerful not just large but dense and potent, but surely he knew all the Kage level shinobi then he tensed himself _'his chakra speaks of age but is shifting like it can't stay stable and there is only one reason, a Jinchuuriki, one that made it undetected into the village with a barrier.' _

Eventually two Anbu entered the office and Sarutobi motioned for the others to leave, as the Anbu left the two newcomers stood behind the intruder in case of attack. He was surprised when the intruder stood up much to his chagrin as if he knew that the Anbu were indeed Itachi and Shisui Uchiha. He slowly removed his hood exposing the vibrant blonde spikey hair and placed his hand on his mask. As he pulled his mask down displaying his blond bangs Sarutobi's eyes widened to an impossible degree in absolute shock, jaw completely slack as his pipe fell to the table with one hand to support himself on the table saying one word as he watched those familiar cerulean blue eyes stare at him.

"Minato..." As tears built up in his eyes, his friend and a Kage he greatly respected as well as his late successor, shocking the Anbu at his reaction. But as his eyes made it to the whisker marks on his face that were eerily similar to the set on Naruko's face, he hardened and even felt a bit of rage build up at someone masquerading as the Yondaime Hokage as Itachi and Shisui moved up to either side of the intruder. Before he could utter a word the intruder placed a seal on the table in pure chakra and the walls of the office glowed indicating a privacy seal, but one he had never seen before especially one made from pure chakra that was imprinted onto the table.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze…"

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><p>Itachi and Shisui Uchiha had no idea what to think of their day it was a normal day with their shift almost over until an Anbu showed up.<p>

"Hokage-sama requests your presence in his office, without your masks" leaving without saying anything else. Both surprised they needed no mask, meaning it's not Anbu related.

"Maybe we will get a raise" said Shisui joyfully as he headed to the office. Itachi just stared at the idiot beside him as he sweat dropped, stunned into silence.

Then he smirked "maybe Hokage-sama listened to my advice and fired you", Shisui stopped cold with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide.

"Maybe he made me your boss" Shisui countered with a devious grin plastered on his face.

"Idiot even with your sharingan you could not find your way out of a wet paper bag" said Itachi as he blankly stared at his best friends face until he said "that's why you will be my subordinate" laughed Shisui.

"Hn…" said Itachi shaking his head, ashamed that his best friend admitted to being a moron.

When entering the office they were surprised to see someone sitting on the chair with three Anbu poised to attack the person, then the Hokage signalled for them to stand behind the person and stand guard as the other Anbu left.

After the person stood up and took off his hood displaying the blonde hair they watched in comical fashion the expression on the Hokage's face shift with eyes going wider and his mouth abruptly open wide until they heard "Minato…" then the Hokage's eyes hardened in barely concealed rage.

Immediately they were prepared to attack the suspicious individual moving up to either side of him, until the walls started to glow, the intruder opened his mouth and said

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze…"

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><p>After whimpering a little when he saw the ashes all over his newly completed paperwork from his pipe, he placed the pipe back in his mouth.<p>

"Who are you, no what are you and what is that seal?" said the Sandaime Hokage, his anger rising by the second what someone had appeared in front of him looking like Minato with a Hitai-ate _'Shinobi'_.

"It's a space time seal that separates this office into a pseudo dimension, no other communication can reach out of this office, even seals placed by Danzo, it is the ultimate privacy seal" he said as he touched the desk displaying an array of Danzo's communication seals, gathering chakra in his hand and swiping across he disrupted and erased all the seals in one go. Shocking Sarutobi not with Danzo's seals because he already knew but his complete mastery over sealing, he was easily above the standard seal master.

"I am the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki…" stated Naruto, though he could still here the Biju laughing in his mindscape from the various expressions the God of Shinobi went through.

"Impossible, Minato had no son and even if he did you are much too old..." he started but then was interrupted by Naruto.

"From the future in an alternate timeline" Naruto finished staring blankly at the old man. "Surely you recognize the chakra I have, now tell me if the Kyuubi is outside in the village what Kyuubi could I have?"

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><p>Surprise filled one Sarutobi Hiruzen's face as he came to terms with the statement, his mind racing to the initial confrontation. <em>'He said Jiji then he came in, just like Naruko calls me and if he is from an alternate timeline then it is entirely possible that someone could be a different gender, also explaining why he knew of Itachi and Shisui Uchiha but why did he want them here. Does he have some connection with an Itachi or Shisui from his world?' <em>His suspicion only grew, the story sounded farfetched but then again the limitations of the power of the Biju is unknown and the person in front of him definitely has the Kyuubi in him or at least some part of it. From watching the bodies of Shisui and surprisingly Itachi Uchiha that were in complete shock and astonishment he knew some part of it must be the truth, weapons not moving with a slight twitch in their hands deciding if they should attack or not.

"What makes you think I believe you in this ludicrous insinuation" Sarutobi said as he narrowed his eyes but his eyes betrayed the spark of curiosity as he leaned forward straining to hear his next statement.

"Well Shisui and Itachi are looking at me with their sharingan, they would see the lack of chakra fluctuation from myself and know that I am telling the truth" said this Naruto in absolute confidence. Shisui and Itachi were startled that someone knew their names even with their masks on, the person not being in Anbu or from the village should not even know them.

"but I imagine this design is familiar" he said as he lifted up his Anbu jacket and shirt to show an intricate seal design that was the exact same as the one that was present on Naruko, the accursed Shiki Fujin seal that took the Yondaime from the village. For the second time that day Sarutobi's pipe fell from his mouth and spilled onto his paperwork, if he was not so shocked he would have been angered to an incredible degree from his ruined paperwork and had enough time to stop it from catching on fire this time.

Feeling a slight warmth on his body he looked down, "NOOOOOOOO!" the Hokage screamed like a girl with tears bursting from his eyes, as his souls figuratively evaporated slowly from his body.

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><p>All Kurama could do was laugh, it was the funniest scene he had ever seen from a Hokage in his very long life, even the other Biju were amazed that this was the so called God of Shinobi they had heard about from their respective Jinchuuriki. Naruto just snickered when he watched the flustered Hokage jump up and take off his hat and try to douse the fire with tears pouring from his eyes screaming, learning a major lesson that straw is highly flammable, shocking Itachi and Shisui out of their stupor.<p>

Itachi watched the intruder go from serious to on the floor laughing when the Hokage's hat caught fire right beside Shisui, though if someone looked closely they would see Itachi's face straining to keep his stoic expression but soon gave way to the Uchiha smirk as he burned the image of the flustered Hokage into his eyes with his sharingan.

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><p>After The Hokage calmed down and finally recovered from his greatest shock in his entire life on his worst day ever, he settled down and got serious.<p>

"I will believe you for now, but why did you come back, what happened?" said the Hokage as he tensed up, anxiety building staring into the man's eyes. _'What could lead someone to abandon their home, does their home even still exist, but his home would have been Konoha…' _The fear at what could be bad caused him to shake, someone that is a Kage level shinobi that very well could have been the Hokage for all he knew had decided to travel through time. Seeing the endless darkness and sadness, guilt shame was all he could think about.

"What happened to Konoha? Did I fail?!" Sarutobi Hiruzen hoarsely shouted. His voice breaking from the thought of all the people that could have died. _'Had I failed in my duty, did I even survive to see what happened?'_ he questioned himself.

"I was the last shinobi, you did not fail Jiji, I did…" he stated as he put his right hand on his chest right over his heart. Sadness building in his eyes showing the eyes of someone who has lived on a battlefield for their entire lives, seen complete death. The eyes of someone who has lost everything, their entire world.

"War Jiji, the fourth shinobi war, against a single person, we won the battle but ultimately we lost the war" Naruto said.

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><p>"War, the fourth shinobi war, against a single person, we won the battle but ultimately we lost the war" said the intruder.<p>

The old saying _'you cannot lie to an Uchiha'_. All truths, mapping the facial expressions and the chakra fluctuations he knew it was true or at least he believed it to be true, but he could tell the Sandaime Hokage at least believed that he was from a different reality and timeline, no matter how much he pretended to deny it.

Gone was Shisui's laid back demeanour, his eyes filled with curiosity and shock, the last shinobi meant that he himself had failed his task as a shinobi itself, he failed his very purpose. Glancing at his best friend and partner he could see his jaw clench, anger replaced his usual blank expression as he also understood his failure.

"Uchiha Madara lived, he gathered the Biju, and though incomplete he still managed to revive the Juubi. After the Jinchuuriki was killed the Juubi was free to run amok, thousands of years of rage from confinement led to all the shinobi villages mostly destroyed…" after a pause when his voice cracked. "There were no humans left to fight."

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><p>Naruto strained to keep his emotions in control, but ultimately failed. The memories washed over him the pain of seeing his village gone.<p>

_Arriving in the outskirts of Konoha after the Juubi ran off, too exhausted to give chase, he found smoke billowing above the trees. Picking up his pace and eventually using his six paths form he arrived at the gate, or what was left of the gate considering there was no wall surrounding the village either. Similar to what Pein had done, a massive crater was in part of the village, the civilian sector completely destroyed with all bodies vaporized in the explosion. A bijudama had destroyed everything, part of the shinobi sector was still there but all the buildings had been blown off their foundations, the Hokage tower was in ruins._

_"What happened?" he cried as he made his way into the ruins dropping to his knees at the first body or what was left of it, what few bodies remained had been crushed under the rubble if they had not been blown to pieces from the blast._

**_'Naruto it was the Juubi, we still have a chance we must stop it before it can destroy the other villages' said Kurama._**

_'How can we stop it, we can't kill it, it's too powerful. Even if we seal it, when the vessel dies it will escape again. We have no way to separate the Juubi back into the individual Biju' said Naruto. Despair was evident in his voice, trying to stop a force of nature is impossible._

**_'The Juubi is unstable Naruto, it is missing half of the Kyuubi chakra as well as part of the other Biju, if we seal it into you the chakra will separate again into nine Biju. Without the Gedo Mazo statue the Juubi can't be formed again. So we just need to destroy the statue after it has been emptied' stated Kurama._**

They had been too late to avoid the destruction of the other villages, he had stayed to clean up some of the Jutsu library in the Hokage tower that had survived to stumble upon the Hiraishin Jutsu, his father's greatest creation. The entire idea was to use the time-space Jutsu to go back in time but even that failed.

**'This is an opportunity, we may not be able to save our world but we can save theirs Naruto, it is better than where we came from, there is life here' said Kurama.**

_'Yeah you are right, we can't be selfish in our desire for our own world, and it is gone but we can save this one' _with determination building in his eyes.

**'Just don't tell them too much, they don't need to know that you have the other Biju as well, or they will fear what you may become.'**

Naruto came back to reality to see the others recovering from their shock of his statement.

"Why did you ask for Itachi and Shisui?" asked the Hokage, while trying to calm himself down.

"We could only go so far back in time and could not stop the death of my father but we could try to stop the Uchiha Massacre and the death of Uchiha Shisui" stated Naruto bluntly.

"What…" yelled Shisui, "Why did I die, how come I am so important?" as Shisui grabbed Naruto's collar pulling him to his face. Emotions flashing across his face, rage, confusion, disappointment.

"Danzo stole one of your eyes in an attempt to use your unique sharingan ability, your Kotoamatsukami ability used together with Hashirama's Cells allowed for the ten year period to be reduced, he was manipulating the ninja of the village with your eye" said Naruto watching the stunned expression appear on Shisui's face as he moved his hand up to his eye.

"You let Itachi kill you to obtain the mangekyō sharingan, after which Itachi proceeded to kill the Uchiha clan for plotting a rebellion" as Naruto turned to face Itachi. "You only left your brother Sasuke alive so that he could reclaim the honour of the Uchiha clan."

Itachi's eyes widened, though his expression stayed the same, going through all the possibilities to see if he would have done something like this. The understanding of the reason why the clan was, no is planning to rebel. "You two are true Konoha ninja…"

Thinking for a second, "but this is an alternate reality, Shisui should have already been killed by now but he is still alive and in one piece, there is an opportunity to stop it before the clan is destroyed."

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately understood why, he could see the tension between the civilians and the Uchiha clan, the suspicion and distrust. "They blame the Uchiha for the Kyuubi attacking the village".

_'Should I tell them who released you Kurama?'_

**'Yes, the more they know the more they can expect, besides I don't think you can make an adequate plan if you keep everything to yourself you'll need help'**

"Yes, and with good reason, an Uchiha by the name of Obito was responsible for the Kyuubi being released from my mother when I had been born."

"But he's dead, he died years ago crushed underneath boulders!" yelled Sarutobi. "Even if he had survived, how could he beat Minato?"

"He was saved by Uchiha Madara who has now passed on, and with the death of Rin his hatred grew until he sided with Madara and trained to beat my father, he succeeded with the help of his sharingan allowing him space-time like abilities and Hashirama's cells to replace the damaged part of his body"

Understanding flashed on Sarutobi's face then shame that a Konoha shinobi was responsible for the death of their Hokage and the other villages. He sat down in his chair with slumped shoulders gripping the arm rest till it cracked mulling over the revelations and looked up to see Shisui and Itachi doing the same.

"Who was Danzo manipulating in the village and why?"

"He was most likely using Shisui's sharingan on his root operatives to remove their emotions, he was also planning on discrediting you with the Uchiha clan massacre and taking over as Hokage but ultimately failed."

"Root is still running, that was supposed to be disbanded years ago! I ordered him to disband it" just as his arm rest completely broke in his hand.

"He did not, and he occasionally works together with Orochimaru's experimentation on children, he also kidnaps young children and forces them into Root, if anything he has become worse" said Naruto as he clenched his fist, Danzo was a disgrace to the will of fire.

"Orochimaru became really active during my Chuunin exam where he tried to obtain Sasuke's sharingan after failing to gain yours Itachi" as he stared into the eyes said man, "he marked your brother with his cursed seal, and after the exam he killed you Jiji" turning to face the stunned Hokage.

As he closed his eyes to stop the tears "he killed you using Edo Tensei, you died sealing Hashirama and Tobimara Senju using Shiki Fujin along with Orochimaru's arms".

"Stop that's enough, I... I've heard enough I need time to think this over, besides you have already said that your past is different from ours, things could be different" Sarutobi nervously said as he grasped for straws. Trying to deny the fact that so many things could go wrong and it all came back to the shinobi of Konoha.

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><p>Eventually calming down Sarutobi asked, "So Naruto what do you want to do?" as he sighed and thought for a second "Do you want of be a shinobi of Konoha?" The idea was good just not going to be easy to implement.<p>

"Yes, it is my desire to fight for Konoha, and being part of the shinobi force will allow me access to more sensitive information, since I look like my father it may be better to pretend to be his younger brother if at all possible" It's all I have left he said sadly.

"Hmm… maybe, Minato never really talked about his family to anyone so if you pretend to be his personal Anbu then maybe we could pull it off and say you were on a mission for him over seven years since his death, maybe his final mission" said Sarutobi as he debated the possibilities. "Danzo will most definitely not believe it but there is little proof to deny it anyway, he can say nothing, besides it's the only option as you look too much like Minato to try hide it with a Henge and you can't hide behind a mask forever"

_'Kurama I will need your help, try to hold back my six paths appearance'_

**'Yeah, okay you should look normal, and they should only sense my chakra, not the others'**

"You can say that he sent me on a mission to find out how to control the Kyuubi, because I already know the process and can do it, see" placing his right hand over the seal he turned counter-clockwise and immediately a wave of chakra erupted from his body as gold yellow flames erupted from his frame and a cloak similar to the Hokage's on his back.

Trying to keep a calm face, Sarutobi could not, Shisui and Itachi had closed their eyes, no doubt they would have gone blind being that close. The chakra was coming off in waves, the sheer presence he was giving off was dominating, hard to tell if it was the chakra or the person underneath. "Knowing that you will be taking up the title of Namikaze, you will be in constant danger of assassination."

"Jiji I have long since surpassed my father, besides with gaining control of the Kyuubi's chakra I can feel the presence of people with negative emotions" Naruto said as he changed back. "Besides it is better that I have some sway in this village, and my presence will deter Orochimaru from doing anything drastic."

"The important thing is what will happen when the Hyuuga see the Kyuubi sealed inside you with their Byakugan"

"When the Kyuubi attacked, Minato only sealed the yang half of the chakra in me while the yin half went to the Shinigami, we can say that he sealed the yin half in me instead and I can get Kurama to only lend me Yin chakra so strong sensors will think it is true"

"What the Kyuubi has a name?" asked Shisui.

"Yeah, the only reason Kurama attacked Konoha is because he was forced to by Obito with his sharingan."

"Now we just need a fake mission scroll, I think I can forge one and pretend Minato asked me to write the scroll for him, or say I did after I became Hokage again" said Sarutobi.

"We can use the leftover chakra of my fathers he sealed in me when I was a baby to use in the ink of the fake mission scroll, that way it will seem to be made by him and I can use a time dilation barrier with a modified Hiraishin to age the document" At that Sarutobi's eyes bulged out, the idea of a time dilation barrier was something only Tobimara could have done with his time-space techniques.

"It only works on inanimate objects, well I mean I haven't tried it on a living thing before, but it would probably take too much chakra anyway" said Naruto as he grinned rubbing the back of his head.

"That could work, I will have to call a council meeting because this is too important for me to delay it, and Danzo will be even more suspicious if I do. Shisui, Itachi this is an S-class secret tell no one" he said sternly two the pair.

"Yes Hokage-sama"

* * *

><p>As the meeting came under way, Sarutobi Hiruzen walked in after all the clans and civilian council, sitting down and breathing a heavy sigh at the chaos that was about to come.<p>

"Where is your hat?" was the first question most of the council asked. All he could do was grumble incoherently under his breath and continue with a smile on his face like he was the Rikudou Sennin in the flesh. As all could smell the smoke coming from him and his pipe was nowhere to be seen, the shame was prominently evident on his face confusing most of the council except Shikaku who was smirking.

"Today I had a shinobi return on a seven year long mission…" paused Sarutobi for dramatic effect. _'Got to live a little In my old age, and brighten up my shitty day' _he smirked as he saw a few of them frown in confusion because he wasn't in office seven years ago, especially Shikaku.

"It was the last mission sanctioned by Minato Namikaze" he said before placing the forged mission scroll on the table. Immediately chaos erupted Koharu, Homura being the ardent leader, snatching the scroll up to read, as Danzo sat patiently with his one eye narrowed thinking of all the possibilities of an important mission such as this. The other clans were whispering to each other trying to figure out the importance of such a mission that it lead to a council meeting.

Immediately Koharu and Homura went quiet, jaws slack as their faces paled, utterly stunned at the name of the mission receiver, "Naruto Namikaze…" was all they said. Sarutobi was laughing inside when he saw the council members stunned and even Danzo was surprised by the name. Turning his head towards the clans they all appeared to be shocked as well, even Shikaku though his eyes were narrowed, obviously he didn't believe it but that would remain to be seen until Naruto walked in.

At the others urging, Koharu continued "It says a shinobi by the name of Naruto Namikaze was to find a way to control the Kyuubi chakra for the new Jinchuuriki, the time length is indeterminate, though there is nothing to say why he was chosen as the only member".

"What is the meaning of this, is it some joke Hiruzen" asked Danzo, obviously displeased with such a farce.

"It is real, I checked the chakra in the ink, it was indeed written by Minato over seven years ago. It was also hard to deny that Naruto was indeed a Namikaze due to his appearance, blood tests confirm he is the brother of Minato Namikaze." And just then the doors to the council room opened all heads turned and in walked Naruto Namikaze followed by Itachi and Shisui Uchiha. A few of the clan heads and the council's eyes widened and some of them mouthed _'Minato'_.

Fugaku Uchiha watched as Naruto walked in with his sharingan active scrutinizing everything, "it is not a Henge that is his true appearance".

Hiashi Hyuuga looked with his Byakugan and saw the chakra coming from Naruto's naval, "What Biju are you holding?"

Immediately Koharu and Homura started complaining about another demon brat in the village, and for once Sarutobi could watch Shikaku's mouth fall open, completely surprised about the proceedings.

As Sarutobi cleared his throat to get the attention of the council, "Naruto holds the Yin half of the Kyuubi chakra…" another pause for effect, "According to him Minato could only seal half the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruko and he sealed the other half into his brother Naruto due to the limitations of his seal design, and tasked him with finding out how to control the Kyuubi, so he could train Naruko."

Danzo narrowed his eyes, this was suspicious, "how come I have never heard of him, I do not remember a brother of Minato and I don't think anyone else does," though he was inwardly pleased at the possibility of a second Jinchuuriki tool for the village.

Making sure Fugaku and Hiashi had stopped using there doujutsu he answered carefully "Minato trained me himself when I was a child and placed me in Anbu by myself, I worked alone always", as he pulled out a Hiraishin kunai as proof.

"Have you at least completed your mission" asked Danzo with a spark of curiosity in his eye, the possibility of a useful pawn was always exciting for himself.

"Yes" Naruto said as he quickly released the seal and gold yellow flames erupted from his body and a cloak formed at his back, straight afterwards he deactivated it.

"I have complete control of the Kyuubi chakra, I have separated the malevolent intent from his chakra, allowing me unhindered access."

"Malevolent intent?" questioned Koharu. Obviously confused by the statement, chakra is just chakra it has no intent.

Naruto smirked blatantly, "Well the Biju chakra is special because they themselves are chakra constructs, and their will is ingrained into it" he paused before narrowing his eyes, "you are lucky Naruko has a strong will, with all the abuse Konoha has done I'm surprised Naruko hasn't gotten angry and lost control of the Kyuubi chakra and wiped this village off the map."

What colour was left in Koharu and Homura's face drained right out, they were as pale as ghosts. It was obviously Danzo that spread the rumour of the Kyuubi in Naruko and they supported it thinking Naruko was truly the demon itself.

"You are lucky I like the village and respect my brother, the harm you have done to my niece is a disgrace to the memory of Minato and Kushina" glared Naruto, by this statement Koharu and Homura had fainted from facial blood loss and their heads hit the table. Danzo and the other clan heads were less shocked because they already knew who the parents of Naruko had been, though most were shame faced at doing nothing in the face of the abuse and isolation of Naruko.

"The identity of Naruko's relationship to Naruto is an S-class secret, exposing it to the village will mean immediate execution regardless of position" stated Sarutobi grimly. While all the clan heads understood the reasons, immediately a full blast twinkle appeared in Danzo's eye as he thought of ways to exploit it.

"That means you as well Danzo, don't think I won't kill you because of your position, and you better keep your lackey's under control. I will not tolerate them spreading your lies to the village again" said Naruto coldly as he glared at Danzo.

Surprise appeared in Danzo's eye when someone cornered him, he glared back at the accusation, as threatening as a half face glare could be. Though the other clans seemed to be smirking due to seeing Danzo up against the wall figuratively for once.

Using the silence to his advantage, "Naruto will be returning to the village as a Jounin and will take up the title of the Namikaze clan head and temporary leadership of the Uzumaki clan for Naruko until she is of age" shocking even Naruto himself, but if he thought about it, then it would make sense for him to be the head of the Namikaze clan instead of Naruko since he is male, as well as make him a more prominent target, thereby protecting Naruko if the secret is revealed.

"Also, as a blood relative he will be taking guardianship of Naruko permanently…" inwardly Sarutobi was ecstatic because now Naruko can receive better treatment and he wanted to see the horrified eye of Danzo and shocked face of Naruto himself. _'About time I screw someone over'. _Though Naruto's face changed into a smile after, because he has actual family that he can live with, in a manner of speaking.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi sat in his office completely exhausted by the council meeting, tilting his head back and releasing his final sigh of the day, <em>'I'm too old for this'<em> he had just sent Naruto, Itachi and Shisui home warning them again to not reveal anything.

Naruto would be staying with Naruko, with the benefit of seals and Itachi and Shisui continuing their guard of Naruko with Kakashi's team. No doubt the rumour of the mysterious brother of Minato returning to the village would have already spread around the village at light speed before the council meeting was over and eventually to the other shinobi villages. Sometimes he wondered why the Anbu had such loose mouths when listening in on Hokage meetings, anything not classified they spread around like the plague. Hopefully it will overshadow the fact that Naruko is the daughter of Minato if that gets out.

When he asked how skilled Naruto was he only said "_I was trained by Jiraiya, I have followed in his footsteps and surpassed him as well" _clearly he has become a toad sage, _'oh that reminds me Jiraiya and Tsunade are going to come rushing back here when they hear the news, Naruto said they should not know the truth. Too much change too soon will leave the future unpredictable'._

Turning his chair to face the window Sarutobi looked out the window at the sunset with his pipe in his mouth and an Icha-Icha book from his drawer in his hand, going to enjoy the rest of the night. A tear escaped his eye as he realized that all his paperwork went up in flames with his hat, it was the first time Sarutobi skipped out on paperwork and hopefully not the last as was for once in his life happy to be in the Hokage office.

* * *

><p>Naruto slowly made his way down the tower with Itachi and Shisui on either side to keep the shinobi from mobbing the brother of the Yondaime.<p>

"Naruto how did you know me before?" Itachi whispered, curious as to what his opinion was of him after he had wiped out his entire clan.

Naruto thought long about it, the will to protect Konoha as a whole for the better of the village. Having a single desire and trying to make his brother strong. "You were… the greatest Uchiha I had ever known, the most loyal one to the village. I met you after you had been killed by Sasuke when you had been revived by Edo Tensei."

"You wanted your brother to surpass you and regain the honour of the Uchiha clan, he eventually did, though in a roundabout way."

With the amount of respect he spoke of when he mention Sasuke, "What was Sasuke to you?" he asked curiously surprised by his tone when he mentioned his name.

"Sasuke was a brother to me, the only family I really needed at the time..." his voice cutting off as he remembered his death, he was killed by Kaguya, pierced with her all-killing ash bones, his body slowly crumbling to dust, watching the shock build in his eyes at his impending death. "He saved my life, he was my best friend and you would have been proud of him."

As they exited the tower Naruto headed down the street towards Ichiraku's for dinner while Itachi and Shisui headed to the Uchiha clan. Glancing back at Itachi, "There is still a chance to save them Itachi, I swear on it, because that is my Nindo" he laughed as he turned back leaving the smiling Uchiha behind.

"Aww look at that Itachi has a new friend, you're going to make me jealous when your attention is not on me only" Shisui said with the largest grin known to man. Itachi for the second time that day was ashamed to be friends with this man after dropping his smile for the usual blank face.

Once they entered the Uchiha clan district they split up, Itachi headed home to his father, mother and younger brother.

"Itachi what do you think of this Naruto Namikaze" asked Fugaku immediately once Itachi came home.

"He respects the Uchiha as long as they are loyal to the village, but I doubt he will like the majority of the arrogant ones though" Itachi plainly stated, surprising his father.

"He has no ill will towards us and actually supports the Uchiha even while knowing the dark part of the sharingan, as long as they remain loyal to Konoha he will openly support us in the village" Greatly shocking his father as he realised someone outside knew the dark history of the sharingan and still did not care. Little did he know this statement had already changed the ideas of Fugaku.

Itachi walked to the back porch and sat beside his brother. "Nii-san where were you?" Sasuke asked. "I was in a meeting with a returning shinobi, the Hokage and Shisui"

"Who is the shinobi is he good, how old is he, can I meet him" Sasuke rattled off questions.

"He is a powerful shinobi, and chances are you'll hear about him by tomorrow, he is twenty years old, and I guess you could say he is a friend in a manner of speaking" smiled Itachi. Until he saw Shisui hiding behind a fence post smirking, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he heard Shisui run off laughing with a camera in his hand. Only to turn back and see Sasuke laughing at him to, which he abruptly stopped when a kunai appeared in Itachi's hand.

* * *

><p>Naruto made his way down the street with his arms behind his head, with the majority of the population staring at him whispering <em>'Yondaime'<em> while pointing. Turning a corner he bumped into Kurenai Yuuhi and Anko Mitarashi who both fell to the ground as if they hit a brick wall, "Sorry" he said offering a hand to each, helping them up, while they just stared at the Yondaime's clone.

Naruto was surprised, they looked noticeably younger though he remembered Kurenai had stayed at the village and died with her son, Anko he assumed had died in the war, as he never saw her again. After helping the two up up, he smiled at them _'I will save you this time' _and left them behind not noticing that small blush building on their faces.

Entering Ichiraku's all conversation died down, while they had heard the rumours of Minato's brother they never would have expected his clone to walk in. Naruto came up to the counter and sat beside a small red headed girl by the name of Naruko in a grotesque orange jumpsuit. "Can I have four bowls of beef ramen and four bowls of miso ramen?" understanding flashed across Teuchi's face quickly replaced by a wide smile as he realized it was the same person that he had met earlier in the day.

_'That outfit sure brings back memories' _remembering his own, he had given his up after the war, it made his team an easy target. _'I might have to fix that later on when she graduates.'_

**'It was a good idea, you looked stupid' scoffed Kurama.**

_'Aww you just wanted it to be red so it could match you' _he thought as he watched Kurama turn his head and grumble, surprisingly foxes can blush.

"Okay, so you're the new shinobi from town, I hear you are the brother of Minato" asked Teuchi. Silence rained in the store as everybody waited with bated breath at the answer, Naruko had stopped stuffing her face to stare at her side and realize that her idols brother had sat beside her.

"Yeah I am, I have been on a seven year mission for him" said Naruto as he turned to face Naruko who had her cheeks stuffed with ramen. She leaned forward and saw his whiskers on his face immediately her eyes and mouth opened wide, with ramen spilling from said mouth all over his lap.

**'For once I am truly happy that you are my Jinchuuriki because I feel sad for that Kurama' laughed Kurama. **The other Biju were confused as Kurama just felt bad and happy for himself about his Jinchuuriki simultaneously.

Naruto watched the blush of embarrassment rise up Naruko's face till it was the colour of her hair and she quickly shut her mouth clenching her fists to see her reaction as he scraped the copious amounts of ramen off his uniform. All the other attendants were staring and waiting for Naruto to rise in anger, while Teuchi did not know what to do, he wanted to protect Naruko, but Naruto was a powerful man in this village, the new head of the Namikaze clan and most definitely an S-class Ninja.

Naruto broke out in laughter grabbing his stomach much to the shock of the customers and Teuchi and Ayame. After he calmed down he placed his hand on Naruko's head and everybody tensed up to see what he would do.

"You're just like your mother Kushina, Naruko" he said as he rubbed her head, "though I don't think ramen was falling out of her mouth" teased Naruto, as her blush grew, but was quickly replaced by a sparkle in her eyes. One thought raced through her mind _'you're just like your mother Kushina'._

"You knew… my mother" she excitedly stuttered, trying to hide her previous embarrassment. "Yes" he smiled, "though not as well as I should have but you have her beautiful red hair, and… her love for ramen" he laughed fingering a few strands. He watched her blush grow as she turned her head to the side smiling slightly, no doubt very conscious of her hair just like her mother.

"Teuchi-san, I will pay for Naruko's food as well as my own" he said to the owner as he patted Naruko's back.

"Are you sure you can handle that she is like a bottomless pit" Teuchi smiled. He glanced at Naruko and saw she was happy, looking down but smiling while rubbing the inner forearms together nervously, she had met the brother of her idol and he had the same whiskers that she had on her face.

"Yeah, I can afford it. Besides it's not like she can eat more ramen then me" he smirked as his eyes shifted to her while pulling his Gama-chan wallet from one of his seals on his right arm. She had frozen and started to shake uncontrollably in shock.

"Nobody can eat more ramen than me! Dattebayo" she yelled as she stood on top of the stool pointing at him. Everybody in the store sweat dropped at Naruko's response, so childish. Naruto smirked evilly as he slammed his fist on the table making everybody jump, he stood up from the chair and they were now eye to eye glaring at each other.

"You're on" he yelled, both turning to the counter eyes burning with determination "Teuchi-san more ramen!" they yelled together. Everybody in the store was silent at this point though a few were shocked into dreamland at a second coming of Naruko.

Kakashi felt a shiver and glanced over his shoulder, he had a bad feeling. Turning back to face the pink Anbu walls of his room.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon Naruto picked up Naruko and carried her out of Ichiraku's, as she slept from stuffing her face. He carried her to her apartment. <em>'Hey Kurama, it looks the exact same' <em>he thought as he stood outside looking up. The Apartment was still a dump, then again you can't expect much from an apartment for a seven year old.

Heading up to the door he placed Naruko on the ground, and woke her up. "Hey. Naruto were here" said as he pinched her cheeks. Grumbling under her breath as she rubbed her eyes, she looked up "Thank you Naruto-san" she said with a smile on her face.

Looking down at her face he could see the loneliness in her eyes, not as great as his but still present, kneeling down till he was eye height and put a hand on her head, "I only said we're here, I'm your new guardian, we're going to live in your parents' house behind the Hokage monument" he smiled brightly at her. _'She will live happily this time, together with us, at least better than we had Kurama.'_

**'I can imagine Minato and Kushina being confused inside the seal trying to figure out who you are. They are probably thinking you are going to kidnap her, in some elaborate plot' said Kurama smirking.**

_'They're probably yelling at your alter ego trying to figure out why I have his chakra, though we can tell him later on after Naruko has graduated' _Naruto inwardly smirked. Once again Kurama was happy that Naruto was his Jinchuuriki.

Naruko's eyes lit up in happiness, then changed to suspicion from the generosity of Naruto and took a step back. "Why… Why would you do something like that for me? You don't even know me." She said shyly with her head facing the ground.

Grabbing her chin and lifting it up to look her in the eyes, "Well I can't let my cute little niece stay here, I know you consider it home but it will be better if you stay with your uncle in your parent's home" as he smiled brightly. "That way we both won't be alone, you are my only family I have left."

…

Naruko just stared blankly for a few seconds.

**'Wow she really is you, she hasn't even figured out what you said yet' laughed Kurama.**

Slowly her eyes widened together with her mouth as she connected the dots, all she could think about was being the daughter of her idol, the Yondaime. Then she fainted in shock in front of her door.

…

_'Even I'm surprised, was I really like this as a child' _thought Naruto as he sweat dropped.

Though none of his Biju confirmed it they neither denied it either. Picking Naruko, he took the key from her pocket, unlocked the door and walked in, placing Naruko on the couch till she woke up. Taking a look around the old room, eerily similar to his own apartment before Pein destroyed it, he sat down on the couch and waited.

* * *

><p>After Naruko woke up he told her not to tell anyone who her parents were for her safety and explained that he was on a mission for seven years and only returned, then he got her to pack her things while he went to the store to get their provisions. Walking down the street trying to ignore all the stares of the people, all thinking whether he was the Yodaime after coming back to life or if he was really the brother. Though most had pride that someone who was at least related to the village hero back home in Konoha, but for the wrong reasons.<p>

Entering the convenience store Naruto grabbed many packs of ramen.

"You know ramen is not exactly a very healthy balanced diet" someone said behind him, turning Naruto came face to face with Kurenai.

Turning to the side he managed to sputter out, "It's… It's not for me, it's for my… new adopted child or maybe sister?" he said as his brows scrunched together. _'Is she an adopted child, did I just adopt myself. I think sister would be better' _Naruto was confused.

Kurenai just stared at the Minato clone, mostly at the whiskers on his face. In her ice queen like demeanour she reached forward and grabbed on them to see if they were real.

"Eh… those are… those are real Kurenai-chan, please don't pull them off my… off my face," he replied as his face deformed from excessive stretching.

Realization hit Kurenai pretty bad, she was touching a stranger's face or more like their whiskers, blushing furiously she took a step back, and quickly turned around slumping her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, they… they just kind of stood out" she said back after calming down and straightening her back.

"Its fine but you're probably right about the ramen, it is probably unhealthy for a girl to not eat anything else" as he grabbed a wide variety of fruits, vegetable and meats.

Heading up to the counter, "So who are you adopting, hmm who is she?" Kurenai questioned as she leaned forward, after her emotional recovery.

"Well it's more like guardianship, but it's Naruko", Kurenai's emotionless mask collapsed again in surprise, "She will be staying with me in my brother home, away from the civilians" as his eyes narrowed staring into the distance.

Paying for his groceries he walked out the store, "Why, is it because you feel like it's your responsibility?" she asked as her eyes arrowed, obviously worried about his reasons for taking care of Naruko.

Turning back he grimaced with a wistful look in his eyes, remembering all the emotions that went through his mind from the abuse and segregation that the village displayed, the loneliness. Not caring that Kurenai had seen, placing his hand on his stomach, "Let's just say that I have had similar experiences to Naruko, and am the best person to understand what she is going through", he patted his seal and turned around walking away.

Kurenai just stared at his back leaving, to know that he was also a Jinchuuriki as well, she completely forgot to ask how he knew her name.

* * *

><p><strong>There won't be much contact with the other Biju until later on, one because they are kind of hard to present nine Biju all the time and two, they were never really with Naruto since he was a child but I will try to work them in.<strong>


	2. Chapter 02 Failure

**'Well I am completely surprised that people like the story, honestly I have forgotten what the first chapter was like to read, mainly because I never read it afterwards. This chapter I have read over and edited, I can honestly say I feel like I didn't write it but I think it is good. Many people have expressed their desire for certain characters to be in this harem with Naruto, such as**

**-Terumi Mei (I am trying to get her in, because as someone said before she is awesome)**

**-Shizune (I don't really like her so I don't think it will be good if I try regardless)**

**-Naruko (I can say with absolute certainty, I won't even try, sorry but it would be just too weird if I did. I think I am going for only a platonic relationship, she will probably be the glue that holds this harem together)**

**-Anko (entirely possible, I might even do it because she is dangerously awesome and I am definitely considering it)**

**-Yugito (I will see, I am not sure because I recently read Naruto Shippudden redux and it was awesome, one of the pairings is with Yugito. Chances are I like it too much to not be influenced by the story because mainly there is little content available for her character but no promises and I like her so I'll see)**

**-Konan (Honestly I don't know about her, I will probably again be influenced by Naruto Shippudden Redux for this part as well but who knows and I actually do like her a little)**

**All these relationships will probably only start taking shape around the time Naruko graduates the academy, Naruto will be more involved with more of the sensei, and will meet some of the other people during her Chuunin exams. Right now definitely going for Mei as I am writing that part right now and Koyuki will only happen in a few chapters after I have watched the movie and seen what kind of influence Naruto would have to the plot.**

**Anyway I would like to say, if you like the story it will be very long by the time it is done, and eventually I will finish it. I hate unfinished stories. If you have any comments about how it could be written better then send away, because I am more unconfident about how the story flows over the plot and I want to keep the characters as close to the original as possible when I can. Updates will happen probably once a week once I start school, five days to write, one to forget and one to edit the shit out of it so it is presentable. Sorry just realized how to add line breaks.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Naruto entered Naruko's apartment, to find her diligently waiting in front of the door, fidgeting excessively, probably thinking it was a joke and he lied to her. Taking a scroll from a seal in his arm he unrolled it and placed it onto the ground in front of her, he quickly removed the old milk from her pile of food with two fingers and threw it onto the counter, much to her chagrin. "Don't worry I bought some fresh milk anyway" he responded.<p>

"Naruko, place all of your stuff on top of this scroll ok", after she had placed her stuff on the scroll, he placed his hands on the edges and applied chakra, sealing the items into the scroll. She stared in awe as he handed her the scroll, "Don't worry I will teach you all you need to know about sealing, it is in your Uzumaki blood, though your father was good at it as well".

"Yay", throwing her hands up in the air, excited to follow in her parents footsteps.

Grabbing her hand they walked out of the apartment and headed towards the Hokage monument. "Hey, do I have to call you Oji-san or Tou-san?" Naruko asked, looking expectantly up at him.

Placing his finger on his chin, "Well I'm not as old as Jiji…" smiling back at her, "or Inu-san…" as her grin grew wider. "I'd prefer Nii-san, because then I won't be replacing you father but it is up to you" nodding his head with a widening grin.

"I think Naruto-nii is better, you don't have gray hairs like Inu-san" she said, Naruto laughed heard a sneeze from across the village.

"I think it is better, I think I am suited to being a brother instead", he laughed at the irony of the statement. "That way I am not responsible for most of you …" turning to smirk at her, "questionable actions."

Arriving at the Hokage Monument. "Are you ready Naruko?"

"Hmm" she looked at him quizzically tilting her head in confusion.

"I'll take that as a yes" he smirked deviously, making her noticeably nervous. Quickly snatching her up into his arms, he crouched down and gathered large amounts of chakra into his legs and feet.

Naruko only had time to see his smirk grow to an impossible degree before everything seemed to stretch vertically, he jumped up into the air deep into the night sky. Screaming, then changing to laughter as she realized they were flying, or falling, giving a sense of true freedom, then landing onto the Yondaime's head.

"Will I be able to do that too?" she asked laughing as he placed her on the ground.

"Eventually but you need more training, and only after you graduate from the ninja academy that starts in a week" As he rubbed her head "I'll teach you then if your sensei allows"

"You won't be my sensei?" she pouted sorrowfully.

"No, I can't be your sensei because secretly we're family" he winked at her, "but I know who will be your sensei".

"Who is it? Please tell me…" Naruko said as she activated the fabled puppy dog eye Jutsu, "the surprise will be better" nodding sagely, though inwardly he was thankful that he is not so weak willed that his alter ego's puppy dog eye jutsu affected him, as he watched her pout.

"Well here we are, it hasn't been used in seven years, but with the seals it should be very clean and untouched." As Naruto went up to the blood seal on the gate of the compound. Seeing her surprise at the size of the property, "It's the Namikaze and Uzumaki clan compound or Uzumaki-Namikaze clan compound".

He bit his thumb and placed it on the centre of the gate to temporarily deactivate the seal.

"Why is it so empty, nobody is here, it doesn't look like much of a clan house" Naruko asked as she walked up to the door looking around.

"We are the last of our clan Naruko, the Uzumaki were wiped out in Uzushiogakure…" he answered sadly, "But that means we get the house to ourselves" quickly recovering as he opened the door.

Naruko quickly picked a room she wanted to stay in, and Naruto followed her up. Unsealing her stuff "Naruko don't stay up to late okay, you need some sleep."

She just pouted as he raised his eyebrow "If you do I will help you prank Inu-san again" he said smirking, before he headed out the door and down stairs taking her groceries back down to put in the fridge with his own.

Naruto headed out to the back yard, taking a breath of fresh air he walked up to a large stone in the far corner. He gathered chakra in his fingers and started to engrave names into the stone. His own Personal Monument. 'Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Iruka…' as tears started pouring from his eyes as he wrote hundreds of names, everyone he could think of, spending hours and hours, one name at a time.

The first time in this new world, Naruto cried for his family and friends. Thinking of their best moments together, thousands of moments with his sensei, friends and family. He ended off with Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki at the very bottom just hidden behind the grass, the ones he truly did not know, as he collapsed to his knees wiping away the tears with his sleeves.

**'Naruto, it's a new world, new opportunity, mourn for them but don't let it destroy you'**

'It's just so unfair, to see everyone… all alive.' Shame passed his eyes, 'you know Kurama I am jealous of Naruko… she has family now, she will have more soon, everything I always wanted is in someone else's hands. I have everything… but then I also have nothing.'

**'And you won't? She is your family as well now, you will have more soon' he grumbled, 'stop crying over it.'**

Thanks… Kurama" he whispered.

* * *

><p>Hatake Kakashi was not having a good day, in fact he was sure this had to be the worst day of his entire life. He spent the majority of the night repainting the walls of his room in the Anbu building, though it was funny at first to see sensei's daughter prank someone, just not when it was him. <em>'I swear to god, I must have cursed Minato when he was my sensei, he left me with Kushina's clone running around,' <em>he growled in exasperation.

He woke up at the crack of dawn completely exhausted, only sleeping two hours. Getting up from his bed he collapsed onto the ground, only now did he realize he was nauseous from smelling the fresh paint on his walls all night as he slept. Eventually getting up and dressed he grabbed his Icha-Icha novel from the night table and slowly walked out the door to begin his shift of guarding Naruko, the excitement of letting Neko and Tenzo chase after Naruko while he sat in the corner reading.

Team Ro made up of Inu, Neko and Tenzo all headed out in the early morning from the Anbu building jumping from roof to roof, completely unseen to anyone if the streets had people in it at four in the morning, towards Naruko's apartment, or as the Anbu like to call it the Red-Hot Jalapeño's apartment because she took after her mother but had boundless energy.

As they arrived immediately Inu stopped and crouched down with his eyes narrowed, _'Hmm… Where is Itachi's team'_, signalling his team forward they snuck towards the windows discretely, hoping that nothing bad happened to them and Naruko.

Inu looked into the window and saw nobody in Naruko's bedroom, feeling the uncomfortable heat rise to his face as he started to sweat profusely in anxiety and nervousness, he quickly shunshined to the door and kicked it open, much to the shock of Tenzo and Neko. For the first time Hatake Kakashi had a nervous breakdown inside the village, feeling weak in the knees he fell forward tears seemed to be streaming down the inside of his mask as he yelled "Noooo!" slamming his fist on the floor at the realization that Naruko was gone.

After his eventual recovery he cleared his mind. _'Where is Naruko…? Did she leave, but Itachi…? Itachi would have stopped her.' What happened?' _Searching the rooms he found nothing, nobody was here and Naruko's stuff was gone. Wiping a finger over the spilt milk on the table, he carefully sniffed it then took a lick, his eyes snapped wide open before narrowing and slowly shifting towards the milk carton, _'a stranger was here, I don't recognize their scent'_.

Signalling Neko and Tenzo over, "We have a problem…, Naruko has… Naruko has left…" Inu said succinctly, though from the looks of it he seemed to not believe it as he stared at the carton of milk on the counter as if it grew heads. The twitch in his fingers and the stutter were not helping either.

Tenzo just remained silent, while Neko pointed at the milk carton and picked it up with two fingers, "Naruko would not leave a speck of food if she left… no matter the state it was in" she said in disgust as she smelled the milk.

"Maybe someone came in and took her, though where is Weasels team?" she added.

The cold hard facts hit Inu like a ton of bricks forcing him to accept reality and stop his optimistic illusion as his shoulders slumped lower _'she's gone…' _and lower,_ 'she's gone…'_ and lower. _'Minato I have failed you, someone kidnapped Naruko… someone kidnapped you daughter' _more tears poured out of the bottom of his mask as he got up and quickly shunshined towards the Hokage tower stumbling and flailing his arms as he went, immediately followed by Tenzo and Neko.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen walked towards his office in an extremely happy mood, he had managed to finish his first Icha Icha novel since his time as Hokage in seven years in fact even before Minato he had never had the chance to read any of them. Everybody was surprised by his happy appearance staring at him as if he was a missing-nin, though a few still asked where his hat was. A frown appeared on his face, the loss of his hat was one of the few black spots he had yesterday, said frown was immediately replaced by a lecherous grin, but the Icha-Icha novel more than made up for it, much to the disgust of the female staff.<p>

Entering his office, immediately the smile stopped reaching his eyes as he had a faraway look appear instead, reminiscing of the burnt paperwork that had been finished yesterday, appear on his table again, all new and clean. Though all unfinished copies, as he collapsed at the door entrance in a heart attack.

Gathering up his courage he forced himself up to his knees and clambered towards his chair, taking his seat he opened his bottom drawer and placed his precious Icha-Icha book on top of all the other dusty novels. Shutting his eyes he gently closed the drawer, praying to Rikudou Sennin himself that this old pervert could open it again before he died. Lighting his pipe he turned and as he started working he heard a yell from across the village, he turned and saw nothing. Hoping that nobody would bother him the rest of the day he shut the window and begun working again.

CRASH, the glass from the recently closed window was shattered and spread all across his office as a black blur entered through the hole followed by two more not a second after. Startled he stood up eyes wide in shock, with his mouth open spittle flying all over the place.

"Wha… What the hell ARE YOU DOING KAKASHI!" he screamed as he placed his hand over his chest wheezing. "Why… Why did you brea…" but was cut off.

Kakashi warped to the desk at light speed after recovering from his entry, "Hokage-SAMA, Naru… Naruu…" he snivelled as he wiped tears from his chin, "Naruko is GONE!" he cried and slammed his mask on the table. "Oh god WHY? She was so innocent and young, sensei I failed you!" Splashing tears all over the table.

After Sarutobi finally calmed down, he carefully sat down trying to understand what Kakashi was talking about. "Kakashi what…"

"Naruko why" as he cried for more.

"Kaka…" glared Sarutobi.

"She was only seven, the worlds too… too big for her, no… no she is too small for the world, she needs… needs to be protected" sniffed Kakashi as he wiped tears from his eye.

Glancing at Tenzo and Neko who seemed nervous, stood up, "KAKASHI!" and slapped him right in the face, knocking him to the ground. Neko and even the stony faced Tenzo were shocked. "What happened?!"

Kakashi whimpered on the floor holding his cheek still trying to stop crying as he stared at the Sandaime Hokage, carefully got up and wiped the tears from his face with his soggy mask. He sat down gently trying to keep his cool, while gripping the arm rest tightly, "Naruko was kidnapped" he snivelled as he wiped his nose, flicking mucous onto the table.

"What makes you think she was kidnapped Kakashi?" he sighed as he crossed his arms.

"All of her stuff is gone, but she left an old milk carton."

… Sarutobi just stared at Kakashi waiting for a real excuse, after being stunned by the ridiculous answer.

"She… she would never leave without all the food, even if it was old, I tell you. She was kidnapped" Mind racing at the possible culprits as he could start thinking moderately clear. "I… I will lead the search party, we need every Anbu available."

Standing up thinking of all the reasons she would be targeted as he paced, "maybe it was Kumo, yeah they tried to kidnap the Hyuuga heir when she was a child. They could have found out about Naruko's parents. No they wouldn't care, it could have been Iwa, and they'd do anything to kill her".

He immediately stopped as he thought of her being dead already, he ran back to the table and shook it. "Hokage-sama we must attack Iwa! They killed Naruko!" he yelled as he slammed his fist on the table glaring at the Hokage.

… The flabbergasted Hokage stood there looking at the completely unsettled Kakashi, with an 'I employ this ninja? Where is the real Kakashi?' as he gave said person a sidelong glance.

"Kakashi, you do know who the new shinobi is in the village right" he said as he stared at the Jounin in front of him.

"What does that matter?! Naruko has been killed by Iwa, I know it!" he yelled once again slamming his fist on the table.

"Kakashi, the new shinobi in the village has taken over guardianship of Naruko" he said in a very disgruntled manner as he shook his head. "Don't jump to foolish conclusions and decide to attack another village, didn't Itachi tell you where she was?" he asked with his mouth open like it was obvious.

"Lazy Uchiha" Kakashi grumbled under his breath turning his head and narrowing his eyes. He turned back to Sarutobi, "How come I have never heard of this? Where is she? Who is the shinobi?" he fired off questions rapidly.

Exhaling another ten years of his life out, "You probably didn't listen to the rumors around the village so I'll let you find out for yourself who it is."

"As for where, Naruko has moved to the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound behind the Hokage monument" Sarutobi finished.

Immediately Kakashi grabbed his mask and raced out of the broken window followed quickly by Tenzo and Neko, _'I can't believe he is one of my best ninja's'_ he sighed. Turning his head back to face his desk, only to see ashes smeared all over the paperwork mixed with his own saliva and Kakashi's tears and mucous, awe filled his face as his eyes filled with untold happiness and glee. Closing his mouth he subtly glanced around as he slowly reached for the bottom drawer of his desk to get his precious Icha-Icha, touching the book warm shiver ran u his spine to his brain, the good kind of shiver. His mind broken as he thanked the Rikudou Sennin for the precious time off, _'old men do get their special time' _he smiled brightly.

* * *

><p><em>'How come I have never heard the news, is it just me?' <em>Turning to Neko and Tenzo. "Did you two know about the new shinobi?" he questioned as he glare at them in suspicion. Both shook their heads, as they were at the Anbu office with Kakashi getting rest before they got on duty.

_'So it's not just me hmm,' _placing his hand on his wet chin,_ 'who could it be that they were allowed to take in Naruko?' _he narrowed his eyes at the possibilities. _'Was it Jiraiya, it must be he had the closest connection to Minato. Being a seal master he would be one of the best candidates.' _

Shutting his eyes and scrunching his brows underneath his mask, they snapped open with new found determination gritting his teeth. _'Jiraiya is a pervert through and through, age doesn't matter he will attack anything that moves. Naruko's purity will be lost'. _Angered at the possibilities he increased his pace, "Hurry, we must protect Naruko from Jiraiya who knows what the pervert will do" he yelled back as he glanced back.

Tenzo and Neko could only follow Kakashi in confusion as they neared the compound, as everything he yelled and muttered got more confusing as they approached. Trying to figure out what is going on his mind was useless, they both understood he had fallen off the proverbial rocker and if that wasn't enough he seemed to suffer from a huge intelligence loss in the process of hitting his head on the floor.

Kakashi in his blind rage for Jiraiya ran straight into the Barrier at the front gate and was knocked out cold.

* * *

><p>Neko tried to contain her laughter as Tenzo would but failed to do so, as she grabbed her captain with Tenzo and headed to the back of the compound to see if anybody was in here.<p>

Yugao was having a wonderful day, she arrived at Naruko's apartment to find she is gone with only a milk carton left behind, something she would never do, she and Tenzo were both worried for her safety. Then she saw her captain have a nervous breakdown like someone burnt his Icha-Icha novel tears pouring from the bottom of his mask as he believed she was kidnapped. The disappearance of Naruko was the only downside, after watching Kakashi smash through the Hokage's window, and seeing his face as he had his nervous breakdown was a first in Konoha history since he joined Anbu.

After arriving at the compound behind the Hokage monument she laughed so much as she watched Kakashi slam right into the barrier in slow motion, nose slowly deforming then crushed as the rest of his face caught up and his eyes widened at his mistake, forgetting the barrier his sensei set up to keep Jiraiya from peeking on Kushina. _'He must be so flustered, he is like a Genin again'. _She smirked as she along with Tenzo momentarily stared at their unconscious leader, they decided to go around back to see if anybody was here. Any Ninja would train in the backyard, most likely no civilian would take care of Naruko for what they believed her to be.

She had tried to take custody as did Kakashi after they watched the treatment she got from people around Konoha, but ultimately the civilian council vetoed it. Though everybody knew it was Danzo behind it, he had plans and chances are they involved Naruko.

She and Tenzo placed Kakashi onto the tree beside them and looked into the compound to see if anybody was home, hearing noises they assumed someone was training in the back. _'The bond hair isn't exactly common, is he a Yamanaka. No his hair is not a pale blonde, plus I have never heard of a Yamanaka performing kenjutsu.' _Yugao just stared at the blonde haired, mostly his bare upper body, _'today could not get any better, watching those muscles flex every time he…' _her mouth fell open in awe.

Without her mask Tenzo would have seen the surprise on her face as she saw the Yondaime's clone practicing kenjutsu. The style was performed extremely fluidly, morphing from stance to stance smoothly with ease of practice.

She was shocked as she watched two shadow clones appear with no hand signs she could see and he performed Dance of the Crescent Moon on his imaginary target followed fluidly by the Secret Sword Moonlight. Both were highly advanced kenjutsu techniques that required many years of practice, but was being performed easily by someone the same age as her. She only knew of Gekko Hayate, though he had never performed to this level of skill.

Her shock only grew as she saw him easily shift into her own Hazy Moon Night technique with his sword producing an endless amount of after images, but it quickly disappeared in a variety of other kenjutsu techniques. Some from other practitioners she had seen from other villages, randomly shifting with practiced ease, all coming together to form a diverse and unpredictable style. She smiled underneath her mask as she thought of asking him to be her kenjutsu teacher as she was looking for one. She could be trained while she is guarding Naruko with Tenzo and Kakashi.

Seeing some movement from the corner of her eye she turned to see an ecstatic Naruko sitting on the porch of the house clapping excitedly, mouthing something. Though the barrier stopped her from hearing what Naruko said, she must have praised him, he was acting all embarrassed as he placed his hand behind his head. Then he responded with some choice words and a smirk because slowly she watched Naruko turn her head to face the forest looking directly at the place where they were hiding.

She started sweating, because they had been eaves dropping, she quickly turned to the man to find he was gone.

"Spying on people is not very nice Neko-chan, Tenzo-chan" se heard a voice heavily laced with mirth behind her.

Both she and Tenzo froze in place _'he snuck up on us, Anbu. He snuck up on us'_ and snapped their heads around to find nobody there, looking carefully the tree was bare as well, and Kakashi was gone from the tree. _'Kakashi has abandoned us' _turning back she found Tenzo was gone… She turned back to the compound to find Kakashi lying face down on the deck beside Naruko.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and an uncomfortable feeling built up in her naval, the next instant she was beside Tenzo in the yard, coughing on the ground feeling woozy. Turning her head she saw the man with bright blond hair framing his face and… the whiskers on his cheeks similar to Naruko.

"Naruko, I said that I would help you prank Inu-san, well there he is, and here are some markers you can even take off his mask considering we all know what he looks like" the stranger said to Naruko.

Naruko quickly snatched the markers up and started to draw on Kakashi's face after removing his mask. Tenzo and Neko having already recovered from the unexpected nausea leaned forward to see Kakashi's maskless appearance, before being stopped by the Yondaime's clone. Turning back to them, "Sorry about that, the first couple times being teleported is… a little uncomfortable."

Placing his hands on his hips, "Yamato-san, Yugao-chan why didn't you ring the bell at the gate if you wanted to come in" immediately the two stiffened by the command in his voice, not only because he knew their names but also because the tone was similar to what the Anbu Commander uses.

"Instead you were hiding in the trees staring at me train for the past half hour" he smirked.

Only now did Yugao realize the Yondaime clone's shirtless well defined body from extensive physical training was exposed in front of them so clse, a blush rose on her face to the colour of Naruko's hair, though hidden by her mask.

In the eyes of the stranger she could tell he knew, the spark of amusement only grew in his eyes. He leaned forward placing a hand on Yugao's mask before whispering in her ear in a teasing tone "It's still going to be here tomorrow Yugao-chan, no need to wear it out."

Flusterd with her mouth hanging open trying to catch a breath, heart racing scrambling to think of an answer as he leaned back patiently waiting before he suddenly turned around and headed inside, fortunately she did not have to answer as right then Kakashi began to stir.

* * *

><p>Kakashi finally surfaced after being knocked out cold, <em>'boy that was embarrassing, I'll just pretend it never happened,' <em>he opened his eyes to see the blue eyes of Naruko _'Oh, that's nice hopefully she didn't see me hit the barrier, oh what's she doing with that marker in her hand… and that smirk of triumph on her face' _he thought questioningly, suddenly a shiver ran down his spine at the possibilities.

Carefully he reached up to his surprisingly cold face to feel nice pale skin, skin that has never seen the light of day in years. Pale skin that should have been underneath his mask but is clearly not as his eyes widened to the limit, _'oh god no' _Kakashi thought as he quickly scrambled to replace his mask over his face, snapping upright he quickly jumped to his feet.

"Inu-san do you really want that soggy mask covering your face" Naruko questioned.

"It's okay Naruko-chan… I have a spare' he stuttered as he quickly replaced his soggy mask with his backup mask from his pocket and turned around to see Neko, Tenzo and Naruko laughing at him though he was not sure why. The fourth person that just walked out of the house in a standard blue Jounin outfit had bright blond hair that neatly framed his face and blue eyes exactly the same colour as Naruko. _'Oh he has whiskers on his face just like Naruko as well, and overall he looks…'_ he paused squinting trying to identify the face, _'exactly like…' _his eye widened "Sensei…" he whispered.

The only reason he seemed calm was because he had used all his energy panicking over where Naruko disappeared to. Looking closer he could see the person looked a lot younger then Minato would have been, and he was missing the light in his eyes. His smile did not reach his eyes, the eyes of a person who had seen years of war, a war they had lost. War veterans had eyes like his.

Stepping forward, "Hello, my name is Inu-san" and holding out his hand.

"My name is Naruto Namikaze, it seems you were the student of my brother Minato"

_'That's impossible, he had no brother, did he? But he is right in front of me.' _Narrowing his eyes, _'why did he hide it from me, why did he only show up now? It's been years.' _Rapidly filling with anger as he turned his attention back to Naruto.

Taking a step forward, "Where have you been for the past seven years?! Naruko has needed a family. Why did you only show up now after everything?!" he scowled as he grabbed Naruto's collar.

Naruto turned to face the frightened Naruko, "Naruko please go inside, and get dressed and ready for breakfast, I'll be in to start in a second" smiling while rubbing the back of his head.

Quickly hiding her fear with a smile, "Yes, Naruto-nii" as she stood and ran up to her room.

Turning back to face the stern appearence of Kakashi, his smile gone but the sadness in his only grew to new levels. "I've been on a mission for Minato for the past seven years…"

Shock appeared on his face, and a slight amount of guilt at his actions, but he remained still to hear the rest. Questioning the possibility of what would keep him away from his niece for so long, '_what could be so important? Sensei wouldn't want Naruko to have no family._'

"I was assigned to find a way to control the Kyuubi chakra for Naruko when she grew older" he finished.

"Why did you have to be assigned to it? Why not someone else, you could have still been here for her?" _'It sounds more like an excuse than anything else for himself' _he thought.

"Minato only sealed half the Kyuubi chakra into Naruko, the other half is in me" he said as he fingered his whiskers. Immediately Kakashi realized the reason for their presence and recoiled in shock, taking three rapid steps back, with a look of guilt on his face at his reaction.

"I'm sorry, I was clouded in my judgement" as he bowed quickly with an apologetic look on his face.

"Its fine, now Kakashi-san, Tenzo-san, Yugao-chan" he called each as he turned to them respectively leaving them puzzled at how he knew who each of them were, "Naruko needs friends more than guards so you can take off your masks when you are in the compound. I'm sure you know why the other children don't play with her, besides its better if she sees who she has with her instead of a mask."

Nodding their heads in understanding, _'and there is that melancholic look again' _Kakashi observed as he scrutinized Naruto's face.

"Well, to start you can have breakfast with us" he grinned just before he dispelled the clone.

…

All three dropped their heads in shame for being toyed with, _'definitely a relative of Naruko, her skill at trickery must come from Minato's side of the family, though somehow it perfectly combines with Kushina's idea of fun and you end up with Naruko'_.

All three shuffled into the house as they took off their masks, no point in using them if both Naruko and Naruto know their names and who they are.

Kakashi came to the table to see a cleaned up Naruto placing eggs and bacon on plates, with an eagerly waiting Naruko, staring at the assortment of food. _'Definitely a change from old milk, well at least she is happy.'_

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was having the greatest inflation of his ego, in his entire life. A beautiful women was hitting on him and he was happy, it may have had something to do with the fact that he pretended to fall as he entered the brothel and drop a load of cash on the ground. But he didn't care, it doesn't matter how you get them, just how much you enjoy them before they realize that all the money you have is fake.<p>

Laughing while pretending to be drunk and enjoying the feeling of beautiful women squeezing his arms between their breasts was what he lived for… besides peeping on women in the hot springs.

"Hey have you heard the Yondaime Hokage's younger brother returned to Konoha" and immediately the seriousness returned back into his eyes.

_'Hmm, that's new, Minato has no brother, at least he never told me of one and I was his sensei' _getting a glint in his eye. Tuning his ears into the conversations around the pub he listened.

"What the Yondaime Hokage had a brother, where has he been for so long"

"Nobody knows, he just appeared out of nowhere, he's the new head of the Namikaze clan,"

"What if he is lying? He could be trying to get the position."

"Well the Hokage vouched for him and they do say he looks exactly like the Yondaime."

Immediately Jiraiya's drunken stupor faded as he got up and quickly ran out of the brothel. _'Sensei vouched for him, and he looks like Minato.'_

_'At least I get to see cute little Naruko, I wonder if she has grown any' _he smirked in happiness, but the lecherous grin was the only face he showed on the outside.

* * *

><p>Tsunade had just gambled away the rest of her money, living up to her namesake as the Legendary Sucker, she had no money and the collectors were closing in. She had run out of villages to travel to and money to borrow.<p>

A soon as the game was over she quickly grabbed some of the sake and shunshined out of there so she wouldn't have to pay her debts and returned back to the hotel room.

"Shizune it's time to go, hurry before they come", she yelled as she punched the door off the hinges, walking in and glancing around in frustration.

"Tsunade-sama you have keys don't you, or did you also offer those up when you were gambling" she frowned. "Never mind don't answer that, I already know. Tsunade-sama I think we should return to Konoha."

"I am not going back there" she yelled back, veins bulging on her forehead.

"Well I thought you would want to know that Minato's brother returned to Konoha, people are talking about it in town."

Tsunade remained emotionless, the she frowned. "No, I am still not going," making up her mind.

"Well Jiraiya will definitely go, and who knows what he will do to poor Naruko, you know age doesn't matter to him. Anything female he'll attack," Shizune responded flatly.

A second vein bulged on Tsunade's forehead, a grimace appeared in place of her mouth as she thought of what Jiraiya would do, _'manipulating a young child is something he would do'_. Snapping out of her thoughts her eyes narrowed in disgust as she grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

"Tsunade-sama wait for me" Shizune yelled as she quickly looked at all the stuff they left behind, "Ugh, it's probably not ours anymore" she sighed before turning around and ran after her towards Konoha.

* * *

><p>Onoki sat in his office looking at the report in front of him, thinking of all the implications it would have on the Ninja of his village, even the civilian population. The hatred his village had for the Yondaime was insurmountable, something that will never fade. Many shinobi were orphaned by the signature technique that the Yondaime was known for. <em>'Hiraishin is the curse of our village, they'll never forget it' <em>he thought as he looked out the window brows furrowing.

Already he could see a few angry shouts from the shinobi, knowing the brother of the Yellow Flash had returned to Konoha and looked exactly like the Yondaime had almost nine years ago on the battlefield. One ninja in particular, _'Samushi, he lost both his team members to the Yondaime and his students. No doubt he will want to kill him'. _Snapping out of his melancholy when he hears a knock at his door. Sighing at the expected onslaught of questions.

* * *

><p>After finishing breakfast Kakashi turned to Naruto and asked the question that was bugging all the shinobi in the room, "why does your Hitai-ate say Shinobi and not Konoha?" drawing everyone's attention to his headband.<p>

"There is no ninja village's in war Kakashi, no place for ideals… Only shinobi, it is a symbol to me of all my friends" and he quickly cleaned up and got ready to leave implying the conversation was over. Kakashi, Yugao and Tenzo had realized the meaning, everybody he considered a friend is dead because no ninja have a Hitai-ate like his, catching his meaning they made themselves comfortable with Naruko. Before turning back, "Kakashi since you have nothing better to do why don't you start teaching Naruko the first week of the academy, I don't trust those teachers enough to give her a proper education" seeing the understanding on their faces and the growing frown on Kakashi's as his hand slowly went for his back pouch.

"Yugao-chan, Tenzo-san if Kakashi pulls out his book, you can kill him. Don't worry about the mess, Naruko's innocence is worth it" he said while smiling as he left. Kakashi immediately blanched, sputtering in indignation and started sweating as Yugao and Tenzo looked at him placing their hands on their respective weapons. No trust was between them when it came to Kakashi's Icha-Icha novel, though they would definitely protect the innocent soon to be eight year old that was looking up at him quizzically.

"Naruko let's talk about the history of Konoha ninja…" eye smiled Kakashi. His eyes though were shifting to his pocket and back to Yugao and Yamato repeatedly.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha just enjoying the atmosphere, trying to block out the memories of the nightmares he had the night before. Walking down the streets he met Fugaku Uchiha, though he expected him sometime soon, but not the very next day.<p>

"Naruto Namikaze I would like to speak to you about something" he asked as he signalled him to follow him towards the Uchiha district.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon, I imagine what Itachi told you was enlightening" he said leaning back into his hands at the back of his head, watching Fugaku's shoulders stiffen.

"Yes it was, though I expect the majority of this conversation can be held off until we get to a… more private location" and together they just walked in silence.

Arriving in his home he sat down, motioning for him to follow. Getting right to the point, "Itachi said you respect our clan even though you know the darkness of the sharingan".

"I wouldn't say that I respect your clan just the few who can keep themselves under control once they gain that kind of power" choosing his words carefully, "such as Shisui, he has not let it take him over, and I can tell that Itachi would have no problem staying in control, they wouldn't even try the act of forcibly obtaining it."

Seeing him stiffen at the mention of the mangekyō, "I know what is required to keep your eyesight once that power is gained, those two would have no problem restraining themselves from doing something foolish". Watching the shock grow on his usually stoic Uchiha face.

Returning to his calm demeanour, thankful that the information was not commonly known, "Do you not trust the clan like most of the civilians in the village? If the civilians knew then they would go to great lengths to segregate our clan."

"Only the ones with no arrogance in their hearts" pausing as his eyes sharpened. "Believing they can return the dead to life is what led to the release of the Kyuubi and the loss of many lives though I know you can't control all the Uchiha clan's opinions" then he immediately stood up as if he had said enough and walked to the door.

Fugaku's eyes were alight with understanding of the hint, an Uchiha was responsible for the Kyuubi attack, though one probably not in the clan, if he was Naruto would have undoubtedly killed him the instant he got in the village. Knowing Naruto knew more then he let on, what the future plans of the Uchiha were he started to rethink his plans.

Glancing back as he opened the door, "If the Uchiha did rebel because of this I would kill only the ones part of the rebellion", seeing the grateful look in his eyes, if he could not stop the clan then his children would survive at least. "Though it has already been proven that a non-Uchiha can use a sharingan. Similar to Naruko's situation, to instigate something like a hatred for a particular person or maybe even a clan to acquire more tools, but they won't leave any alive" he smirking as he walked out the door.

_'With that, the Uchiha rebellion is over, they'll investigate and realize that Danzo was the one responsible for spreading rumors to the civilians.'_

**'They know it's better to have the protection of the village then play into Danzo's hands, he is the most dangerous person in the village right now, that is just one of many problems' said Kurama.**

_'Yeah, the biggest one will be Orochimaru first, he will interfere early on, and maybe the other Jinchuuriki but I doubt we will have any issue with Akatsuki so soon.'_

**'Once Jiraiya and Tsunade arrive you can start to remove Orochimaru's curse seal off of Anko, slowly weakening Orochimaru's hold over his prisoners until he comes out in the open during the Chuunin exam'**

_'Yeah Sasuke was affected by the seal regardless of whether he used it or not, it infects the mind corrupting them with Orochimaru's will passively, hopefully we can prevent that from happening this time.'_

**'There is just Akatsuki, we won't have to worry about them because they won't be active for another 5 years anyway so it's better to not waste time trying to find them' **as Naruto nodded his head in acceptance.

_'It's better to fight them on familiar ground then try to fight them in their home turf, if we fail then it will be many times more unpredictable.'_

Walking down the street Naruto had one goal for the day left, to find Iruka Umino the soon to be teacher of Naruko. _'It's better to speed up Naruko's friendship with him, someone to look out for her'._

**'I doubt it would take too much to convince him anyway, he idolized you father, so chances are if you tell him the truth he will believe you.'**

_'Only after that we have time to plan how to stop Yagura, Isobu do you know where he is, is he even still alive'_

**'He is… he will not stop, I was still under the Uchiha's control… it is better to kill me… and delay my reformation… Yagura would commit suicide if the genjutsu released anyway… He has done too much to his village… they will not let him live regardless' replied Isobu timidly.**

_'We will release him from his pain, he is probably aware of the death he has dealt to his own village, it is better to set an example to placate the village, though it will be sad to kill you' _Naruto thought frowning.

**'It's not a true death for us Naruto, just a rebirth if you will and it's necessary for the delay' responded Kurama.**

**'You're one of the only Jinchuuriki we all respect' encouraged Son Goku. **All the other Biju agreed.

Smiling at the encouragement, Naruto arrived at the memorial stone to find a younger Iruka-sensei, newly promoted to Chuunin. _'Not really my sensei now' _he smiled wistfully then his eyes hardened _'but he is alive at least'._

* * *

><p><em>'Tou-san, Ka-san…' <em>Iruka thought as he stretched out and touched their names. _'I'm sorry I couldn't fight with you, maybe… maybe you would have survived' _as his eyes built up tears.

"Excuse me, can I join you?" someone voiced behind him. Without turning around, Iruka just shuffled over. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours.

"You know I don't think it will change anything, if you just sit hear crying, thinking about what ifs".

Eyes widening in surprise, then they narrowed in anger, "What would you know, I could've helped, I… I could've done something. It could've been different".

"Maybe but standing here crying at a list of names won't change anything," he paused. "Get stronger so it won't happen again, or in your case teach all your students fairly so they'll have the chance to do it."

_'What is he talking about?' _

"You have an opportunity to impress your values on the students, you are moulding their ninja way… passing on the will of fire" feeling his eyes burrowing into the back of his head. Hearing the stranger stand up, "instead of taking out your anger on Naruko like you plan to do for what she contains."

Iruka's head snapped around at the accusation frowning, turning to see the Yondaime's brother, shocked that his idols brother was saying something like this to him. "How do you know I would do something like that?" as he gritted his teeth. Not in anger but in shock _'that's… that's exactly what I would do,'_ which morphed into a look of shame as he came to the realization.

"In sorrow people do stupid things… that they can't take back. I would know, there are many things I regret in my life, many lives lost because of me" as he turned around hiding the darkness that was surely expressed in his eyes. "I can't change anything about it though, it is impossible to travel back in time and change the past…" he finished with absolute confidence.

"But Naruko really needs friends right now, and I think you would be one of the best. You can stop by the Uzumaki-Namikaze compound and come see for yourself if she really is what she jails or she has the will of fire inside her like you." Yelling back over his shoulder as he walked away.

Standing there for what felt like hours, going over the conversation repeatedly. '_If she is a child, I will see for myself. It wouldn't be fair to meet her with a closed mind.' _Iruka sighed as he stood up and made a bee line for Hokage monument to meet the young girl and see for himself who she is.

* * *

><p>Naruto headed back down the streets, just wandering aimlessly around enjoying the life and activity after his chat with Iruka. <em>'To know that I helped my sister feels good, it's not so bad to have a sister. That feeling of accomplishment is fulfilling'<em> shutting his eyes grinning.

"You seem happy, did something happen?" opening his eyes he turned to see Kurenai walking next to him looking somewhat out of place.

Smiling, "I just helped someone through their pain, and hopefully helped Naruko make a friend in the academy" seeing her puzzled expression, "due to her circumstances she will need all the help she can get, and I just talked to her future teacher Iruka-san" she nodded in understanding.

"I… I just wanted to apologize for… being disrespectful yesterday", she said as she looked downcast.

"You thought my reasons were shallow Kurenai-chan," with no response she did not deny it, only looking more ashamed. "Its fine, I would've done the same if I had been in your position, the feelings behind an action such as this are extremely important, I could've looked after her if I only wanted to control her but I'm not."

One of her occasional smiles blossomed on her face, "So, you seem to be taking your responsibility of Naruko seriously, hmm" she said as she tilted her head in a cute way.

"Yeah, I consider her family, though more like a younger sister I should protect. I'm too young and vibrant to be her father figure" he responded as he listened to her laugh.

"You can come over and see her if you want Kurenai-chan, none of the younger children will want to play with her when she starts the academy" as he saw her eyes darken, "well most of them, they will be prejudiced due their parents."

"I don't know… maybe" as she turned her head, though he still saw her ears redden either from him calling her name or from the offer.

"Don't worry we won't be alone," as he smirked, "you can use the opportunity to practice your genjutsu on Kakashi when he pulls his special novels from his pocket."

Seeing the frown on her face. "Kakashi is guarding Naruko, though he needs some sense of danger when I am not there so he won't bring his novel out in front of Naruko."

Watching her smile at the opportunity to punish the pervert. "I even have some new genjutsu you can have that I picked up on my travels around the Elemental Nations."

Shocked at the offer, "surely you can't, jutsu are coveted. I can't accept that" as she put her hands on her hip and looked miffed.

"It's fine neither me nor Naruko can use them because of our… tenant, our chakra control will never be good enough to use any of them" he said patting his seal, "So it's better if you can use them instead of them just collecting dust."

"Thank you very much".

"It's fine, and once Kakashi is unconscious you can practice genjutsu on me, if I don't realize you cast it on me then you should be at least as good as the average Uchiha." As he stared at the beautiful women smile at the offer.

Though she also asked about his Hitai-ate, he gave the same answer that he gave Kakashi. They continued to walk in silence towards his home.

* * *

><p>Naruto arrived at his home together with Kurenai to see Iruka at front gate waiting patiently.<p>

"Iruka, it's nice to see you again, I didn't think you would come so soon" smiling brightly at his previous sensei.

He smiled, but it didn't really reach his face, there was some slight shame at his previous actions at the memorial stone, seeing this Naruto did not press for answers as he headed to the door.

Naruto could already sense the state his house was in before he even made it to the door. His natural instincts kicked in as he smiled at the unfortunate state of Kakashi, though he frowned at the condition he would find his house in.

Opening the door, there was a large splatter of pink paint near the entrance of the door, though someone with a keen eye would immediately notice the shape of some sort of person, lying on the ground presumably unconscious. _'Most definitely unconscious but I smell blood, he must have done something stupid,'_ Naruto face palmed at his stupidity. _'Sometimes I am surprised I learnt anything from him when he was my sensei, what happened?'_ he thought as he shook his head.

Glancing over to Iruka, his face was shocked at the human like pink figure on the ground. Though he thought it was funny at first his face slowly shifted to horror and then finally settled onto absolute dread, only growing more fearful by the second as he noticed the blood mixed with the paint. He obviously thought the Kyuubi had taken control and killed someone in the house then desecrated his corpse, looking closely at his forehead he could see sweat building and his eyes ever so slowly rose to look at the back of his eye lids and entered dream land as he fainted and collapsed onto said pink corpse.

He quickly turned over to Kurenai to see the understanding in her eyes and a large feral grin, like someone had just handed out justice to a pervert. Right before she stepped on Kakashi's head and continued on her way as if he was trash.

Naruto looked back at Kakashi to see an Icha-Icha novel easily recognizable by the distinctive inappropriate cover, partially covered in pink paint. _'Naruko had seen it, up close' _as the rage built inside _'seen enough of the book to paint the cover pink'. _Kakashi's life had ended that day. Stepping on top of Kakashi, no more like stomping hard on top of Kakashi, he grabbed Iruka and dragged him into the living room.

* * *

><p>There he found Kurenai standing at the side just staring…. At the two Anbu also completely covered in paint and minor traces of blood just glaring with their arms crossed over their chests glaring at a girl on the couch. Said girl by the name of Naruko was also covered in paint, but noticeably less and she looked practically ecstatic, he felt his Biju laughing inside his mindscape.<p>

Kneeling down in front of Naruko, all the shinobi that were presently awake leered in to see how he would treat the little she devil. Patting her on the cheek softly as he looked into her eyes, he smiled "now remember Naruko…" all the shinobi leaned in even closer, "just don't get caught next time, think of it as part of your training as a shinobi."

…

Mouths started opening around Naruto, though all were in disapproval. At his method of teaching, it was definitely skewed, he seemed to treat her like a mini Rikudou Sennin that could do no wrong. At those words Naruko's face blossomed into a childlike smile which looked extremely cute.

"Think of it as stealth training for a shinobi if you can escape the Anbu unseen with them none the wiser to your secret activities" he winked at her. The childlike smile only grew as she jumped into his arm hugging him smearing pink paint on him in the process.

"Naru-nii I love you" as she laughed in a giddy tone. Feeling the eyes on the back of his head burrowing ever deeper, he quickly whispered some choice words into Naruko's ear. Understanding flashed across her face and her devious smile came back on for a split second but was quickly hidden by a sad face with fake tears.

"Naru-nii, I'm sorry, after Yugao-nee and Yamato-san left, outside Kakashi-nii pulled out his book and started reading" she bit her lip and whimpered while avoiding eye contact. Obviously a lie it was more like she got bored of the history of shinobi and left, and Kakashi was left alone to his own personal devices, obviously too lazy to do anything about it he proceeded to take out his book and read. All three noticed the blatant lie but said nothing, obviously because Naruko had seen the cover of the novel anyway.

Stroking her head at the well done task, "and that is how you lie to the Anbu, all good lies are based on a kernel of truth..." smiling brightly at her as she closed her eyes in pleasure. Both Yugao and Kurenai smacked his head extremely hard for teaching yet another inappropriate lesson to a child.

Continuing as if nothing happened at all, "now if you'll excuse me" he said as he smiled brightly and brought his hands together cracking his knuckles, "I must deal with Kakashi for bringing that book out in front of Naruko while in my house" he slowly got up and turned to the pink corpse that seemed to be stirring. Gritting his teeth and staring at the piece of trash on the floor, soon to be compacted trash, he cracked his knuckles even louder, "Yugao chan, Kurenai-chan you can help if you want, you will need practice anyway when Jiraiya comes back to the village…" both coming up to him on either side, "that would be around tomorrow I guess." Evil glints appeared on both faces at the prospect of disabling Jiraiya from his future excursions in the village publicly, as they left the room following Naruto as he dragged Kakashi out back. The Konoha Women's Association would gather quickly, and most of them happened to be ninja that had suffered from Jiraiya's acts perversion.

Yamato just stared at the leftover imprint that looked like one you would see from a crime scene and quickly snatched up Kakashi's book and lit it on fire before Kakashi got himself killed with it. Afterwards he covered Naruko's ears from the girly screams of Kakashi that came from the back yard while dragging her upstairs to get cleaned up.

* * *

><p>Naruto, Kurenai and Yugao came back inside to the living room satisfied, to find a cleaned up Naruko, listening patiently to Yamato's teachings of the history of shinobi. The table covered in mini wood clones acting out the scenes making it much more engaging for a hyperactive child.<p>

"Kurenai-chan, Yugao-chan come with me I have some jutsu that you two will find useful," leading them to the back of the house and down into the basement, there was a library. A massive library, bigger than the fabled Uchiha library that was said to exist with scrolls lining both walls and in all the shelves going into what seemed complete darkness. The left side beside the stairs was a small section still covered in dust that had been here for over seven years, untouched with old looking shelves. The other side and everything beyond, in the far distance was all brand new shelving that Naruto had put in over the course of the night with thousands of Shadow clones.

Yugao and Kurenai both noticed the vast difference between the two sides and even the selection, each section was neatly categorized by element, or type of jutsu, whether it be taijutsu, clan jutsu, kenjutsu or fuinjutsu and so on, even many kinds of Kekkei Genkai elemental jutsu. In the far corner there was even a scroll that looked suspiciously like the forbidden scroll in the Hokage tower Yugao had seen with four other large scrolls beside it. They were both shocked at a collection of this magnitude, most of the scrolls would have been restricted in clans and other villages but all were present in the library.

Naruto walked up to the genjutsu shelf and grabbed a few scrolls, handing them to Kurenai and then over to the kenjutsu scrolls, did the same and handed them to Yugao. "You two can have those, I have no need for them and I have copies of them anyway."

"Thank you" as they bowed their heads in acceptance, knowing that he would not take no for an answer.

Both women were shocked at the generosity, all other clans would not even let someone near where the clan jutsu library is in their house. Naruto took them right into his, showing the amount of trust he had for them. Grabbing a few more he lead the two excited women back upstairs to the living room.

"Yamato-san I found these on my travels, they are on the wood release that Hashirama used, I don't know if Danzo gave you them but you can have them anyway." Much to the surprise of Yamato at that specific knowledge, but he still kept on his stoic face, nodding and gratefully accepted the scrolls.

Naruto went to wake up Iruka, after he woke he shot right up looking for immediate danger with a dead Kakashi on his mind still, "Iruka-san, Kakashi is not dead, he just decided to show his precious novels to the young and impressionable Naruko" as he portrayed an innocent child about to be corrupted by an evil pervert while dragging Iruka towards Naruko.

"Hello Naruko-san, I am Iruka Umino but you can just call me Iruka-sensei as I will be your teacher in a week, my likes are, well teaching and I don't really dislike anything" as he held out his hand.

Taking his hand "hello Iruka-sensei, my name is Naruko, I like cup ramen, what I like even more is the ramen Naru-nii makes for me, I dislike waiting the tree minutes for the cup ramen to cook. My dream is to surpass Jiji and be the best Hokage ever" she said proudly.

"Jiji?" Kurenai and Iruka asked.

"The Sandaime Hokage". Both Kurenai and Iruka were speechless at the disrespectful name for the Hokage-sama, while Yamato and Yugao were used to it.

"You call the Hokage-sama Jiji?" they all but yelled together.

"What? Naru-nii does as well, besides he is old isn't he?" placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head. The two just stared at the childlike logic, but soon realized who she learnt that from as well.

"You know I'm starting to think Naruto-kun is doing more corrupting than anybody else in the village" said Kurenai as she sighed, turning to said person who had already gone into the kitchen to make lunch. She did not however notice the look Yugao gave her from the way she addressed Naruto, though Naruko did.

Spending the day at the Uzumaki-Namikaze compound, the four of them spent time with Naruko and Naruto during lunch and even dinner as he told them about his travels with Jiraiya, though heavily edited. In turn each of them told him about what had happened in the village since he had supposedly been gone, occasionally going over a few missions when they were Genin for Naruko.

As he lead them out with an unconscious pink ball shaped Kakashi on his shoulder, "If you want you can practice your jutsu here while you stay and keep us company, and I could always use a sparring partner" he smiled at the four that nodded in response.

Passing Kakashi to Yugao and Yamato they said their good byes, and Naruto closed the door.

* * *

><p>"Naruko did you have fun today" he asked as he started leading her up to her room for bed.<p>

"Yes, Kurenai-nee and Yugao-nee are both nice, though they don't seem to get along with each other sometimes."

"It must be a women thing, I think you will understand when you get older" replied Naruto as he frowned in confusion.

"Yamato-san is nice but he can be scary when he wants to be, and his face never changes expression" seeing Naruto nod she continued, "All Kakashi-nii does is read his book, he doesn't talk to me". Thousands of pranks immediately formed in Naruto's head, if it was a boy he wouldn't mind because they wouldn't have understood what the book meant at a young age but women matured faster. _'Kakashi you bastard, one request and you failed repeatedly, I have five years to beat… I mean fix your habits before you are her sensei' _he thought.

"Iruka-sensei is nice, he seemed like he was forcing himself to look at me when he first arrived, but he seems better now" Naruto smiled at that, now Naruko would at least have one sensei on her side before she started the academy.

Naruto let her change then placed her in the bed, "Naruko, Iruka-sensei is someone you can trust, so are Yugao-chan, Kurenai-chan, Kakashi-nii and Yamato-san. They are someone you can believe in and put faith in because they think of you as family" before he exited the room.

"And you as well Naru-nii, especially you" he overheard as he closed the door.

Turning back and placed his head on the door, "No Naruko you shouldn't trust me, I have… failed too many times. I am not worthy of such faith, especially from you… especially from you" he whispered completely to himself instead of Naruko.

He headed outside into the backyard once again, slowly making his way to that corner, the corner with his own memorial stone. Gathering chakra in his index finger he once again started engraving a name, but this time only one, 'Naruto Uzumaki' the first name on the list and the last person he had failed.

_'Naruto Uzumaki died that day, when he returned to Konoha, he failed his ideals and ninja way' _he thought to himself.

_The battle with Kaguya was not going well, besides her infinite chakra, she had the rinne sharingan to see through all our movements, her all-killing ash bones technique for all ranges and when combined with her ability to make dimensions and have absolute control over them made for the deadliest weapon. She could appear where ever she wanted and so could her weapons. Dodging repeatedly over and over, all ways on the defensive. One wrong move would mean death, I made that mistake, and Sasuke is paying for it now. He was my brother and I failed him just as I failed myself._

Bending over he repeated over and over again in his mind _'I am… Naruto Namikaze', 'I am Naruto Namikaze, always shinobi… only a shinobi' _as he cried for the second time in this new world.

Heading back inside, slowly going upstairs, and even now repeating his mantra. Entering his room he climbed into his bed, not bothering to change and entered his nightmares once again. Naruto Uzumaki's nightmares, the ones he believes he deserves.


	3. Chapter 03 The Seal

**Sorry for the delay I am trying to get a couple chapters ahead because as I write the chapters I think of something in later chapters that should be mentioned earlier or I become unsatisfied with something and want to edit it.**

**Anyway as I was writing it, I realized with some help that a romance story is not really a romance story if the main character sleeps with every girl that moves. So pairing will definitely be Kurenai, Yugao, Mei and Koyuki. Personally I like Anko a lot but it is much more fun to have her tease Kurenai and she reminds me of Mei. Yugito may happen because I haven't gotten to her but I kind of don't want to and then it would end up bad. Konan will not happen at all because when Pein destroys Konoha she only worries that he will shorten her life span which is clearly too far gone for my tastes and she would be really hard to do.**

**Well anyway enjoy. Lots of fake love that I carry in my hand to those readers still interested.**

* * *

><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen woke with a smile on his face for the second time since he had taken up the position of a Hokage, his grin could literally split apart the heavens if it got any wider. He was completely relaxed, under the false impression that a Hokage just needs to be interrupted once during the day and mess up their paperwork before they can spend the rest reading their special novels. Almost bouncing out of his house with an old man defying spring in his step much to the shock of everyone in the village, he sped along to his office.<p>

The shock on the guard's faces was surprising to say the least, they had never seen a Hokage so happy to go to work, if he was even the Hokage. Immediately Sarutobi Hiruzen found weapons poised to attack at his neck as if he was an intruder, but not even this could stop his soaring mood. Disarming the guards with more old man defying skills he practically floated his way up the tower to his office, many guards also stopped him, those that didn't just leaned down to see what was underneath the Hokage's feet. All fell to the might of the old man as he made his way to his door, a field of corpses behind him, whether they fainted from shock or they tried to attack this suspicious old man when breaking into the Hokage offices under a Henge.

Opening his door to find a pile of paperwork even larger than the day before, he almost collapsed, losing his floating like ability. But he quickly recovered and his smile seemed to stretch past his facial boundaries as he once again pretended he was the Rikudou Sennin. Moving over into his chair he carefully placed his Icha-Icha novel into the drawer on top of his other volumes. The pride he felt when he saw the third volume underneath, _'slowly I will remove the dust on the books, slowly… for all the old Kages in the world' _he laughed as he imagined Onoki suffering with his own paperwork.

Patiently he pulled out a pen to start the paperwork, with no plans to finish it, waiting for the inevitable distraction that would ruin all the sheets and allow for his special old man time.

…

And nothing, second after second his smile faltered till there was a hint of disgust at no interruptions. He placed his hand on his special Icha-Icha drawer and slowly pushed it closed as he started to face reality and paperwork, stopping suddenly as he snapped his head to the window in anticipation, eyes sparkling in happiness.

"Jiraiya, why don't you come inside?" he asked as he opened the window turning to the side to see Jiraiya sitting on the roof writing.

"Hey sensei, I came to visit" grinned the toad sage as he climbed in. Not noticing the feral smile forming on his sensei's face as he let him in, only growing larger as he closed the window behind him, and trapping him in the office. _'Now the only escape is through the door but not for long, quickly cause destruction. Destroy the paperwork' _he laughed internally like a madman.

"So Jiraiya what can I do for you, you hardly ever show up in Konoha unless you are peeping" emphasizing the last words quite loudly, the feral grin seemed to disappear replaced with a stoic face as he raised his eyebrow.

"I heard rumours of Minato's brother and I had to come see for myself. Personally I find it suspicious, Minato never said anything to me about a brother" he said placing a hand on his chin. "Though he never said much about his family anyway."

"Well blood tests confirm he is Minato's brother, he also brought a mission scroll signed by Minato with his own chakra signature in the ink" Sarutobi elaborated.

Jiraiya's eyes widened as he leaned forward, "really, what was his mission, can I even ask?"

"Naruto Namikaze was assigned to find out how to control the Kyuubi for Naruko, he was specially chosen to deal with this kind of mission".

"What?! I know more about seals then anyone, well at least anyone alive, how come he wouldn't ask me to do it?" placing his hands on his hips, a look of annoyance expressed with his face.

"Minato could only seal the Yang half of the Kyuubi chakra into Naruko, the other half…" he paused as he saw Jiraiya's eyes slowly widen, racing at the possibility of two Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

"The mission was for him because of his tenant, and besides apparently he is a seal master, one taught by Minato. He says he is on par with him, he has even recreated the Hiraishin."

Jiraiya's eyes widened even more at the information, seal masters were rare but one on par with Minato was unbelievable. He smiled at the information, inwardly excited to meet him and exchange notes. "Really, how good is he, have you seen any of his seals aside from Hiraishin?"

"He has created what he calls the ultimate privacy seal which I am inclined to agree, it separates the room into a pseudo dimension where nothing can go in or out, effectively isolating the room completely." Seeing Jiraiya's eyes sparkle, "he also has the capability to remove seals with chakra alone, meaning he can probably also make seals with chakra…"

"And he has modified the Hiraishin to allow for the creation of time dilation barriers and has used them on inanimate objects which is something Tobimara wasn't even capable of doing." He finished as Jiraiya grew more excited by the second.

"Where is he staying?"

"He is staying on the Uzumaki-Namikaze compound behind the Hokage monument" seeing him nod his head the feral grin momentarily reappeared on his face.

"Together with Naruko…" pausing as he eyed his student, "he has taken guardianship of Naruko and she is living with him there." His evil like laugh came back in his mind as he saw Jiraiya grit his teeth and narrow his eyes in jealousy of living together with Naruko. _'I have him now I just have to finish him off for Tsunade' _he smirked.

"What, he gets to stay with cute little Naruko" he almost cried as he supported himself with the desk.

"Yeah, I hear he carries Naruko up to the bedroom for bed every night" as Jiraiya's head faced the ground as ha collapsed onto his knees crying, Sarutobi's evil grin appeared on the outside for the world to see. _'Hook line and sinker'_ he thought as he threw his arms in the air like he won best looking man over sixty.

"That should be me, I should be the one holding Naruko… I should be the one giving her baths, helping her change, taking her measurements as she grows older…" he snivelled as his eyebrows touched in sadness.

Breaking out of his happiness, Sarutobi was astounded at Jiraiya's perversion, he seemed to have a skewed view of what a parent should do with a child, _'hopefully he is not a lolicon… those books would be…' _he turned to stare at his bottom drawer, but he never finished that thought. Tsunade punched the door off the hinges and stomped in over top of it with a large red vein pulsing on her forehead, smacking Jiraiya's head through the floor and slamming her foot down repeatedly trying to force the rest of his body through.

"You… disgusting… pig! you will never… ever… be allowed to touch Naruko!" she yelled as she completed her task of forcing the pervert through the hole with a triumphant smirk on her face.

Looking through the hole she saw he was gone, 'perverts recover fast' was all she grumbled under her breath in distaste before she instantly ran out the room to protect Naruko from Jiraiya.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat with a proud smile on his face as he leaned down to the bottom drawer and picked up the third Icha-Icha novel in the pile and started to read, turning to enjoy the heat of the sun on his body as it rose.

"Hokage-sama you can't read when there is work to be done." Turning back to find many workers bringing in even more paperwork to the office. He squinted to see if it was a mirage, putting his hands together, "Kai?" _'no not a genjutsu'_ slowly his narrowed eyes widened at the realization, as the paperwork made its way closer and closer to his desk.

He quickly looked down to find all the old paperwork still there. Leaning down with his head level to the table he tried to figure out where the genjutsu started or how many layers it had, up righting himself he looked back at the paperwork to find it clean with no tears, ashes, mucous or spit smeared over the sheets. His soul seemed to leave his body as more paperwork was stacked around him, until he was gone from view.

* * *

><p>Tsunade raced after the super pervert, '<em>ugh, that disgusting pig, he has no idea what parenting should be like'.<em> More tick marks appeared on her forehead as she increased her pace at the incredibly fast pervert. _'Must be some sort of messed up jutsu' _frowning as she ran.

Running behind the monument she found Jiraiya, shockingly he had been stopped by a barrier. From the welt on his head he seemed to have run right into the barrier in his perverted excitement. Seeing the disgusting pervert frown with his hand on his chin looking at the gate, she came up behind him and punched him hard right into the barrier.

Five minutes later an Anbu came out of the house with no mask to unlock the gate, and release the pervert from the gravity like attraction of an electric barrier. After releasing them he led them to the door.

"My name is Yamato, I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama. Naruto left the barrier up to protect Naruko from perverts."

"What I'm no mere pervert…" displaying a look of shock, "I'm a SUPER PERVERT!" Jiraiya yelled proudly. Tsunade just shook her head in shame and smacked said pervert over the head into the ground. Though his resistance birthed from perversion allowed him to instantly bounce back, bloody nose or not he is resilient like a cockroach.

"He said only perverts would be stupid enough to run into it, and major perverts would need some shock therapy if they tried again". Tsunade smiled at this comment, _'Naruto seems to be a respectable parent figure, much better than Jiraiya could ever be'_ she finished as she glared at Jiraiya.

They entered the house to find Kakashi with pink flecks of paint in his hair, there on his knees scrubbing away cleaning up a pink outline of a body. Throwing a questioning glance towards Yamato. "Kakashi brought one of Jiraiya-sama's books out in front of Naruko and Yugao punished him, afterwards Naruko poured paint over him".

Leading them out the back door they found Naruko sitting in between a man and a women, both ninjas from the looks of their attire but not Anbu. All three of them seemed to be watching a female Anbu spar with what seemed to be the Yondaime's clone… Tsunade's eyes widened at the uncanny resemblance, not just a brother it was like the Yondaime himself was there. She glanced towards Jiraiya, he was staring with his mouth open eyes wide as if Naruto was his student from over ten years ago. Tsunade turned back to the fight, there was Naruto standing still while Naruko attacked him with her sword, all Naruto had was a carved wooden stick. Looking closely she could see he was parrying each strike like a master with nary a nick on his wooden sword. Elegantly maneuvering into a variety of positions while using his body's natural flexibility to the utmost efficiency with no wasted energy, as he stayed in the same spot.

"Naruko we have visitors why don't you say hello" Naruto said as he glanced at them, though he seemed to stiffen when he actually looked at them directly in the eyes.

Ignoring that Tsunade smiled happily when Naruko turned towards her, _'she looks just like her mother'._

"Ah, it's Ero-sennin…" she said pointing at Jiraiya, everybody was laughing at Jiraiya as he just grumbled 'inconsiderate gaki'. "It suits you Jiraiya" placing her hand over her mouth giggling.

Naruko pointed towards Tsunade "it's Tsunade-baachan". Everybody stopped laughing and stared in fear while tick marks formed on Tsunade's forehead.

"Please tell me how I am the Baa-chan" she politely asked while gritting her teeth as her eyes narrowed in annoyance, keeping some semblance of control over herself she restrained herself from acting on instinct and attacking a child.

Naruko frowned, "She's right Naru-nii, she doesn't look as old as you said she was", turning back to Naruto, who started sweating a lot with all the women looking at him in shock. _'I take that back, not respectable at ALL!'_

"Naruko you're not supposed to tell her I said that" he said laughing in a joking manner. "It's not polite for men to talk about a women's age, in fact I think you should have taken the fall for that one" whispering the last part though everyone still heard. _'Not a respectable parent figure at all!' _as she ground her teeth, anger building.

Immediately Tsunade jumped forward intent on punching him to the next life. Thinking nothing of the target in front of her with no weapon in hand, if she was paying attention she would have noticed Naruto had never relaxed in her presence, always ready for attack no matter who was nearby. All she felt was an iron grip on her wrist and next thing she knew she was on the ground, knee on her back and arm twisted behind, pinned face down with a kunai at her neck. Cold hard steel tracing a line at the major arteries of her neck, though as fast as it was there it was gone.

"See Naruko, when a guy mentions anything about a women's age they attack without reason", pausing for any excuse he could think of, "besides I was comparing her to your age…" Giving a sagely look, "we're all old compared to you… Umm eh, but Tsunade looks no older than a teenager" he finished nodding his head looking proud at his quick recovery.

Seeing Tsunade calm down at the excuse he released her and helped her up, as his eyes faltered, "Sorry Tsunade-san, I was trying to teach Naruko… to not judge someone by their appearance…" pausing carefully, "and you were the easiest example" he finished flatly as if it was the truth and nothing but the truth.

_'Hmm… at least he had a reason, but I will not overlook it again. I'm surprised, though I was not serious he spent no time breaking my wrist and pinning me to the ground…' _Placing a hand on her neck she felt for the warm trickle of blood, finding none she hid her actions from everyone else,_ 'with a kunai at my neck on instinct alone. Me, a Sannin' _she admired the skill unaffected by her near death and forgetting her previous anger, feeling the pain in her wrist she prepared to heal it.

"Hmm, sorry about that, let me fix it…" Naruto tapped the nerves in Tsunade's arm temporarily numbing the arm, then straightened the wrist gathering chakra in his hand he ran it over the wrist and mended the bones instantly.

To say Tsunade was surprised would be an understatement, as a professional medic she had experience but had never seen such speed at mending bones. _'it's on par with regeneration, must be the Kyuubi's chakra but to have such healing properties and use them with such ease would take countless years'_ thinking as she eyed him suspiciously.

"Naruko, this lovely women is your godmother, though she wants you to think of her as your sister more than a mother like figure" he said as he pushed her forward from her back towards Tsunade. Naruko just smiled and gave her a big hug which Tsunade gladly accepted with her own smile.

"The pervert in the corner is your godfather but I wouldn't hug him, who knows what he will do with a female in his hands touching him willingly… and not for money." He said smiling as he defensively placed his hands on her shoulders stopping her from moving anywhere towards him.

"Hey I should be able to touch my goddaughter" he yelled while taking a step forward. Kurenai, Yugao and Tsunade all stood in front of him stopping from moving any closer while glaring at him with varying looks of distaste.

"On one condition Jiraiya…" replied Tsunade with a menacing glare.

Jiraiya smiled as he enjoyed the hug Naruko gave him, though he could not return it, he was mad they all thought he was a lolicon for some odd reason but was still pleased that he could touch Naruko albeit with both his arms dislocated curtesy of Tsunade.

"Well since you have come here Tsunade-san I have some books for you, I think you would have more use for them then I would," as he headed inside. Tsunade remained puzzled at the offer and waited beside Naruko while Naruto was inside. "So Naruko, are you enjoying it here, is Naruto treating you alright?" she asked smiling at Naruko.

"He is nice, he makes food for me, he is always there for me, he treats me like family…" smiling happily, "and he told me who my parents are."

Tsunade hid her stunned face, "did he tell you why nobody would tell you and why you shouldn't tell anyone?"

"Yes, he said that father was a great man and if they knew I was his child they would come for me in revenge, and if I couldn't protect myself than he would lose the only family member he has." She responded nodding her head in acceptance.

Seeing the frustration in her eyes, "Well that just means you have to get strong enough that nobody can threaten you, then you can tell the world." Naruko smiled in response with resolution in her eyes. Hearing the door open she turned around.

Returning Naruto handed Tsunade five thick books with multiple bookmarks in each of them. "I have no use for these because I don't have the required background knowledge, I may have some medical skills but I do not understand half of what is in here". Patting the stack after he handed them over.

Tsunade opened one to find it full of recipes, hundreds of recipes all for medical salves. She knew some of them but more than half were unknown. The next had many medical procedures to treat various kinds of injuries and the next had cures for many kinds of diseases. After each book Tsunade's eyes widened more and more, such knowledge was coveted and the formulas would be worth a fortune. _'This is amazing, each one is extremely detailed. Almost as if I had written them myself'._

"I can't accept this" she stated firmly as she reluctantly tried to hand them back.

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-san I have no use for them, my friend…" <em>'Sakura here is your research, years of research all for your teacher, I guess it will all return to you eventually' <em>he thought, as he stared in Tsunade's eyes. "She would have wanted you to have them, she talked about you a lot with respect and wanted the chance to show them to you but she lost that chance". _'You died before she could get the chance'_ he thought as his eyebrows furrowed.

"What happened to her, if you mind asking…?" Naruto just grimaced. "She was killed by… by a madman." Shutting his eyes and crossing his arms, implying he would not answer anymore.

"I'm sorry, I'll accept these, but I don't know if I'll be able to make much use of these".

Staring straight into her eyes knowingly, "fear is something that can be overcome, it just requires effort, and strength of will can grow. You will overcome your fear Tsunade…" he responded frowning seeing the surprise on her face, "You only require the correct situation to force you to overcome them or face even more losses." As he reminisced when she had saved his life.

Seeing her shock at knowing her reasons, something that had only been known to Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Sarutobi. "But eventually that time will come and you will make the best use of those books, more so than me" he said with the utmost confidence.

"From what Yugao has told me about a Hayate Gekko, I think some of his symptoms have been mentioned in there" Seeing Yugao's eyes widen at the possibility of curing her friend.

Turning to Jiraiya he changed the subject, "Jiraiya I will say the same thing that I said to Kakashi to you, if you bring any of your books out or even mention them anywhere in this house I will kill you" he said coldly seeing him laugh it off. "If you think I can't, then I will put seals on the house just for you and you will never be able to get within one hundred metres of here" seeing him stiffen, Naruto only smirked at the absolute victory.

"Kurenai, is Anko-san on a mission or is she in the village?" bringing out his serious persona.

"Yes, she has time off, her… she required rest" she finished.

_'Understandable Orochimaru used to be a part of Root, Danzo and Orochimaru must still be contacting each other. Probably making plans for the Chuunin exam but why with no Uchiha massacre he could pick any Uchiha?'_

**'Sasuke is part of the main family so he should be more powerful, he is young and impressionable unlike Itachi so he would be the easier target and Danzo wants the opportunity to kill the Sandaime Hokage to take over his position. They need to plan in advance for such a big operation' supplied Kurama.**

_'My presence in the village is changing the timeline to much, if I stay to long it will become unpredictable. I might have to leave until Danzo has solidified his plans, when Naruko is graduating probably, but then I will leave Naruko alone'._

**'She has Yugao, Kurenai, Yamato, Iruka, and Kakashi. More than you ever had, with a good enough reason she will believe you and trust that you will return and you can visit her with Hiraishin' **Naruto nodded in acceptance to Kurama's input.

"Since both Tsunade and Jiraiya are here we can remove Anko-san's… special problem now," seeing Tsunade's surprise at her inclusion in sealing, and everyone else about Orochimaru's cursed seal except for Naruko.

"But that's impossible, I have looked at it and I can't find out how. I can't figure out what he used as a base" Jiraiya glared.

"I have travelled farther then you could ever know Jiraiya, there are some things you would never understand about sealing" he responded enigmatically while Jiraiya frowned. Inwardly smirking at Jiraiya's curiosity getting the better of him.

"I will discuss my findings with The Hokage, come to his office this afternoon and we will remove it then as I have already prepared the seal required. Kurenai-chan I will ask you to make sure Anko-san is there" turning around and heading back inside.

Jiraiya just stood there flabbergasted at being told off by someone younger than him about sealing, Tsunade was confused at the reason for her involvement and Kurenai was happy that her friend can be helped with her problem.

* * *

><p>After Jiraiya and Tsunade left they stopped at a bar to drink and digest today's events, mainly discuss the enigma known as Naruto Namikaze. Jiraiya was the most affected, someone he had no knowledge of was protecting Naruko from him, his godfather. 'Am<em> I that bad of a pervert'<em>, yes he was. Though the upside is that he could actually meet her, '_she is exactly like Kushina when she was a child, she might even end up like her when… damn I almost turned into a lolicon,'_ fear built inside him of Naruto's revenge at his thoughts.

"I am surprised he is definitely not someone to mess with" Jiraiya said shaking his head as if he were warning himself.

"You only noticed that now, he is something else entirely, it's almost like he knows exactly what we are thinking, like he's known us for years" responded Tsunade, not knowing she was actually correct. "He knows who we are, he even knew about why I don't perform operations anymore, but I can say for a fact I have never felt his chakra signature, ever" she scowled.

"He is suspicious, even these books are amazing, I doubt even I could write something so comprehensive such as these" she complained holding one in her hand. "The years of research and analysis is done by a master easily on par with me, but I have never met anyone of this calibre on my travels. The research would have required many patients as well, she must have done so in a war."

"That would explain the look he had, his eyes… his eyes had an otherworldly look as if he wasn't sure we were real, like we could disappear in an instant just like that" Jiraiya said as he snapped his fingers. "I can tell you this he has seen war like no other, I have never seen the Hitai-ate with 'shinobi' on it ever, all across the elemental nations, he seems to be a survivor of whatever war it was." He frowned in curiosity.

"He did seem to have that look when he met us, he knew we were there but once he saw us he was shocked. Even his skills are beyond what you would expect from shinobi of his age nowadays, he defended himself on instinct alone," Tsunade elaborated. "He brought his kunai to my neck with the intent to kill."

"We better tread carefully then, with his past it would be easy to step on an emotional landmine and ruin him, he's barely holding himself together…" pausing thinking for a second, "the only problem is figuring out which way he will go, he could breakdown or he could snap and with his skills Konoha might not survive, especially with his tenant," sighing at the possibility.

Seeing Tsunade's questioning glance, "the way he pinned you to the ground, you may have been holding back but he was also and not by a small amount either. He pinned you with ease but I saw the seals."

At her impending question when her confusion only grew, "he had restrictive seals, I saw one on his wrist and I would recognize one of them anywhere, he beat you with restrictive seals no doubt more than four of them, one for each arm and one for each leg" he said as he gestured with his own wrist. He paused as if realizing something then frowned, "and most importantly after the spar with Yugao-chan, the way he stood… even after the spar he stood there at the ready prepared for an impending attack, almost… almost as if he was expecting an attack from allies."

"But why, he is in his own village not unless he was attacked by friends would he develop that kind of paranoia," questioned Tsunade.

"Probably the reason he wears the Hitai-ate with 'shinobi' on it, maybe he does it to honor his friends he might have killed" Jiraiya said as he thought of the meaning. "All villages have a motto or something they live up to… Konoha has 'the will of fire' which means they will protect their village. Iwa has their 'unmovable will', they will carry out the orders of their Tsuchikage without hesitation, but Naruto represents himself as a shinobi. Right at the core shinobi will do anything to complete their task, all is fair game." He paused as he thought of Naruto's character, "Naruto probably won't go that far but he is close, either he lost his ideals along the way or he never had them to begin with," then abruptly stood up, with a twinkle in his eye as he planned to do some research.

He never made it out the door… walking… he flew out the door and into the wall opposite the bar as Tsunade was well versed in his facial expressions. Sadly for Jiraiya, Kurenai and Yugao had already warned all the women in the village that Jiraiya was in Konoha.

* * *

><p>Knocking on Anko's door at her home, "Anko-chan, we have to go to Hokage's office this afternoon, to meet Naruto-kun for..."<p>

Opening the door with a cheek stuffed with dango, "You know Nai-chan…" as she leaned forward raising an eyebrow, "I don't think I'm considered the parent in our relationship, it won't matter if I meet Naruto-kuuun with you" emphasizing his name at the end with a grin on her face.

Closing her eyes, her lips thinning as the heat rushed to her face, "Well then, you want to keep your little problem on your neck, Naruto-kun says he can remove it for you" as she ignored the jab.

"What?! Even that pervy sage can't remove it, what makes you think he can?! I'm not going, even if he is your boyfriend I'm not going" practically yelling and narrowing her eyes after she pulled her dango stick from her mouth.

"Well he says he knows how it can be done, he seems to know what the curse mark is, and he even requested the help of Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama".

"Well if he is so confident I will go, but he better tell me why he can remove it, or at least what this thing is" as she walked out of her house down the stairs with Kurenai.

"So Nai-chan how was he, was he rough or gentle?" placing her natural feral grin on her face.

"What do you mean?" Kurenai questioned?

"I mean Naruto-kuuun, did he taste nice?" as she turned her head to face Kurenai, wriggling her eyebrow.

…

"Anko I will not even answer that question" she turned her head in anger, though her blush was still visible.

"It's okay Nai-chan you will get your opportunity" she said as she patted her shoulder in encouragement. "Though you should hurry it up, if I were in your position I would have jumped him already" she said smirking.

"Anko…" she growled.

"I mean he's got the looks, because he looks like the Yondaime, he's got the position as a head to a major clan, the money…" as Kurenai's anger only grew. "But he has Naruko and I just think she would get in the way of all the action" pouting in annoyance, Kurenai had visibly calmed down at that.

"But I mean for you he's perfect, you always wanted a family man that won't be a complete pervert, not like Asuma-san, he's old, and not responsible." Happy about the compliments for Naruto-kun she was visibly irritated at the mention of Asuma. _'He is a lazy idiot, the least responsible person in the village, Naruto-kun is a lot better, he would take care of children.'_

"You're thinking about him taking care of your children already Nai-chan…" seeing her stiffen, she continued. "When's the wedding, when can I expect to be the godmother…"

Seeing no response, "I am going to be the godmother aren't I, I am your best friend right Nai-chan… right Nai-chan!" she yelled in mock anger as she grabbed Kurenai's shoulders with tears in her eyes.

Finally recovering, "Yes Anko-chan, you are my best friend" bring her hands up trying to appease her.

Anko's tears instantly disappeared from her face, to be replaced by her largest grin yet, "so you don't deny it…" Kurenai's eyes widened at the statement. "You were thinking of what the children were like, and a wedding, I hope I'm going to be your maid of honor. Then I can throw you a party, we can get wasted and travel to all the strip clubs," as her eyes started shining with all the possibilities.

_'Oh god, what have I done she will never let this go.' _"Let's go Anko, we don't want to be late" as she grabbed her hand and pulled her along picking up speed as she went.

"Well Nai-chan, you have a lot of competition with Yugao-chan, both of you are sexy kunoichi but who know what Naruto thinks of you two" as she saw Kurenai pouting.

"It's okay you have time, it's not like he is attached to anyone anyway and besides he is a clan heir" finished Kurenai encouraging her friend. "It's not like he can't play all over the street, just think you could slowly strip Yugao of her clothes to expose her body, caressing her hips up past her toned body to her breasts kissing in ecstasy as you grabbed her ass and suddenly…" starting to act out as Naruto, "he comes from behind licking your neck and takes you both, repeatedly in the throes of passion" she finished while breathing heavily for effect

Starting to walk ahead of the frozen Kurenai, she began to drag her blushing best friend towards the Hokage tower, "Oh, Nai-chan so innocent" she laughed.

* * *

><p>Anko entered the Hokage office with a blushing Kurenai in tow to find Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto and the Hokage.<p>

Right away Anko walked up to Naruto's face, "so I hear you can remove Orochimaru's mark, are you confident about it" she asked as she glared suspiciously into his eyes.

"Yes I can, once you know the reasons for it, then it's pretty easy to isolate the curse and remove it with no permanent after effects."

"It is a seal is it not, how come Tsunade has to be here, she is a medic-nin" asked the Hokage.

All eyes turned to Naruto at the question. He placed a privacy seal on the table and began to explain. "For that I would have to tell you the purpose of the seal, Orochimaru seeks some form of immortality, but his version is more like soul immortality. He desires to transfer his soul to another body that is suitable" stopping to watch surprise and disgust appear on people faces at the mention of a permanent possession jutsu.

"So the seal was designed to take over my body?!" Anko yelled, furious at the prospect of such a thing.

"Yes and no. The seal is designed to prepare a body for his techniques and no I doubt he would have taken over your body, he wants a body with more advantages… such as a bloodline," understanding flickered across their faces.

"The problem he faced was that he wouldn't be able to use sage techniques in a body that was unable to or unaccustomed to sage chakra so he needed to find a way to get their bodies used to it. When he bites a victim he injects an enzyme that inhibits sage chakra absorption without the nasty after effects and to remove the cursed seal completely, the enzyme must be removed or destroyed."

"So that's why you need me, I have to help destroy the enzyme from the blood to purify the body of the sage chakra" confirmed Tsunade.

"Yes, and after or as the enzyme is removed we can remove Orochimaru's soul and then you will be fine." He finished with a clap of his hands while preparing to get to work.

Everybody just stared at him as if he was an alien, then slowly looked at Anko's seal as if it had sprouted a miniature Orochimaru, Tsunade even moved a bit away from it in fear.

"Naruto-san please tell me that Orochimaru's soul is not in this thing" she asked pointing at her own cursed seal with a smile not reaching her eyes.

Naruto was on the ground drawing a large one metre wide circle and started writing various symbols on the edges, with barely a glance "no, at least not his entire soul, only a portion. It was a contingency plan to revive himself if he happened to die…" he stopped and thought for a second, "though whether he would be the same person or not is debateable."

"Okay this got a little freaky" Anko laughed nervously.

"So how are we going to destroy the enzymes, they will be moving around her body, we can't just remove them all in one go" questioned Tsunade.

"The idea is to imbue the enzymes with sage chakra isn't it?" Jiraiya asked after looking at the characters written in the circle.

"Yes, by using the characters for sage energy in the seal as a base, you and I will be on either side of Anko-san to balance the chakra, collecting natural energy and powering the seal, essentially using the enzymes characteristics against itself," replied Naruto not stopping for a second from his work.

"Our sage chakra would have to match but that would require you to be a toad…" he narrowed his eyes, "how did you learn? Where?"

"I picked it up here and there on my travels" as if avoiding to answer. "Anyway we will also place a seal on the back of Anko-san's neck to attract the sage imbued enzymes and hold them in place, due to the high blood flow and it is best to stop any of the sage chakra from reaching Anko-san's brain."

"Why, what would the chakra do to the brain?" both Tsunade and Jiraiya were puzzled at the possibility.

"Due to the nature of the enzyme, the Natural energy is extremely potent, many times greater then what we would be able to absorb, unfortunately the side effect is with large amounts the person's psyche suffers…" Tsunade and the Hokage's eyes widened at this, "they go on a murderous rampage, their impulses will be erratic and unstable" he answered seeing everyone's blank expressions.

"The body losses chemical balance when one type of chakra is present in the brain in overabundance, and the person's emotional state suffers greatly" responded Tsunade.

"Yes that is why when someone uses the seal they start having murderous impulses and after enough time they start to lose their resistance towards them eventually snapping."

"Well the seal is done, Anko-san I would like you to sit in the centre, while I draw the necessary seals over top the cursed seal, and the one on your neck," taking off her jacket he started to draw a seal array on her neck.

After finishing the seals, "Anko-san this is going to hurt a lot, not physically but mentally, the seal has been on you for so long that Orochimaru's soul has partially bonded to your soul in your body."

"Will it affect me as a ninja after the removal, can I even be a ninja anymore" Anko asked.

"Yes you can, without the seal unbalancing your body with foreign chakra you can't control, your jutsu should be easier to perform and be overall more effective as well as Orochimaru won't be able to kill you with a single hand sign," he answered to her worries.

"So I can still be a ninja, with no adverse effects?" she asked happily.

"No permanent ones at least," seeing her frown, "Without the sage chakra supplementing your body you will feel slightly weaker but you can remedy that by exercise and after a few weeks you should be back to you original strength."

"That's fine, at least I can get the mini Orochi off my shoulder, a little exercise never hurt. Can you help me with the exercise?" she smirked while licking her lips.

"Anko" Kurenai glared.

"No I cannot, but I can get Guy to help you, a couple hundred laps around the village and you should be fine" he smiled as Anko paled.

She had heard of the springtime of youth as she tried to stay away from him and he was a little weird and would never give up if he had to help someone. "Never mind, I'll be fine on my own".

As he sat down he smiled and nodded his head, "Good, now Jiraiya sit on the other side and start gathering sage chakra, I'm sure you know what to do next."

"Yes" he responded as he sat down and started gathering sage chakra, placing his palm on the edge of the circle after he entered sage mode, he looked up to see Naruto.

Jiraiya's eyes were wide, as well as everyone else's, though Tsunade's, Jiraiya's and Sarutobi's were for a different reason. Naruto was in a perfect sage mode, while gathering large amount of sage chakra very efficiently with no transformation while Jiraiya looked like some sort of toad like man with warts growing on his nose.

Slowly the seal on the ground started to glow brighter and brighter, together the seal on the back of Anko's neck also started to glow, she attained sage like marks on her face, "Tsunade-san can you start destroying the enzyme in Anko now". Nodding she moved forward placing her hand on the back of Anko's neck using medical chakra to analyze the area and destroy any substances with high concentrations of sage chakra.

"Anko-san this part is going to hurt, the seal placed over Orochimaru's curse mark will start to be removed before my seal becomes active" seeing her nod he placed a kunai in her mouth and began removing the seal.

Immediately the curse mark started spreading along the side of her face, reaching the side of her eye, slowly encroaching her sclera inversing the colour, reaching past her nose to her other eye also reaching down her torso and her left arm. Black patterns spreading and changing, trying to morph the body as her impulses started to go out of control. Anko bit hard on the kunai in pain causing her lips to start bleeding. The curse mark started to recede and her skin and eyes reverting to their original colour, the original three tomoe's at the origin started to lose shape as the mark receded. Slowly wearing away at the edges as if evaporating into the air. Naruto's seal glowing with raw energy as it burned away the portion of Orochimaru's soul until it was completely gone and the seal started to fade from existence after the mark had disappeared.

"What is happening to her?!" Kurenai yelled in shock, as Anko's eyes widened and mouth dropping open in absolute fear when she saw warts start to form on her slowly expanding nose.

"As the enzyme is removed there is nothing to stop her from turning into a toad with all the nature chakra…" seeing Tsunade pause for fear of Anko's life. "Continue Tsunade I will deal with the transformation when we are done, if you stop now she will die from the enzyme without the curse mark controlling it as she has no experience with sage chakra" giving her reassurance.

Anko's transformation almost reached completion after Tsunade had finished destroying the last of the enzyme in her body, everybody looked on in fear as Anko was slowly completing her transformation leading her to death. Naruto calmly got up, rolled his sleeve up, placing his hand on one of the many storage seals tattooed on his arm, a wooden staff appeared in his hand.

Naruto lifted the stick in the air, only Jiraiya seemed to understand what it was but was still surprised because of who the staff belonged to, it was the staff that belonged to Fukusaku. Crack! Smacking her over the head in the silence of the office, rapidly the transformation receded in Anko and she appeared normal again, curse mark free.

Turning her head to Naruto, "Why the hell didn't you tell me about that?! It is kind of important that I may end up like a toad!" she yelled as she was held back by Kurenai from attacking him.

"Well if you knew then you would have not gone through with this, I mean you barely know me," replying easily.

"Well I know Nai-chan and she seems to trust you a lot!" she responded glaring with one arm on her hip and the other pointing. Immediately the glare disappeared and she jumped up and hugged him, "thank you, thank you, thank you." Just before letting go, "I leave Kurenai-chan to you Naruto-kuuun though I guess if you can balance her with Yugao-chan then you can try." she whispered in his ear, then returned to the side of Kurenai. Seeing his cheeks redden she smirked in triumph.

"Anko, we need to draw a fake cursed seal on your neck so Orochimaru will not find out the mark is gone, also try not to mention that it has been removed. I don't want him to change the design because then I will have to find a new way to remove the mark" he lectured after he recovered, then proceeded to do so.

"Yes, yes. Now Nai-chan let's go celebrate with Yugao-chan…" seeing Tsunade's awkward stance in the office, "You can come to Tsunade-chan, and let's get wasted!" she laughed hysterically as she dragged the two of them outside onto the streets.

Before Naruto could leave, "Hey Naruto-san, how did you get that staff, only Fukusaku-sama had one like that?" Jiraiya sked after he grabbed his arm.

"As I told you before I picked it up on my travels…"

"Where?" he glared in suspicion.

"Here and there" he replied just before body switching with one of the females in the hall and disappearing.

"AHHHH! PERVERT!" she screamed in horror, while Jiraiya just stared at the spot Naruto had been, for once in his life completely ignoring a woman in front of him.

* * *

><p>Anko, Kurenai, Yugao and Tsunade were drinking their life away at a table in a bar, happy to get wasted joking about Anko's toad like appearance and how the village had been since Tsunade had left. Until they saw Naruto at the beginning of the street heading towards them, walking home probably thinking about Naruko or some other things, immediately changing the subject of conversation to Naruto.<p>

"I am surprised, he must have travelled a lot, to learn senjutsu requires lots of help and guidance, Naruto had no secondary toad characteristics like Jiraiya had, which means he is extremely skilled" Tsunade informed them.

"Really, so that's why Jiraiya had warts on his nose, I wish I had taken a picture" laughed Anko.

"So he is more skilled than Jiraiya?" asked Kurenai.

"Either that or he must have had a really good teacher, and put in many years of practice to reach that level" Tsunade said with a sigh.

"Even his sword skills are phenomenal, I don't think anyone could compete with him inside this village, those also would have taken years of refinement to achieve that level" Yugao happily provided.

Seeing Tsunade's questioning glance, "They both have a crush on him, but they're too afraid to tell him, well more like they think he is the ideal lover" supplied Anko with a smile.

Both Kurenai and Yugao just stared at Anko in shock before turning to each other and confirming it then blushed in embarrassment.

"Well I can't say you have made a bad choice, he seems like a nice person and he is the exact opposite of Jiraiya" Tsunade smirked at their embarrassment. "Though he has only been here for a week, how can they have a crush on him so soon?"

They all turned to Kurenai, "Naruto is nice and occasionally respectable, and he gave me genjutsu scrolls from his jutsu library and lets me practice on him… and the way he is with Naruko" answered Kurenai.

All glanced at Yugao and she smiled, "Naruto also gave me kenjutsu scrolls and lets me spar against him in the mornings, he is the kind of guy that would do anything to rescue you." Both Yugao and Kurenai had imagined a picturesque Naruto, turning to Tsunade with an expectant look.

"What?"

Yugao answered in an annoyed tone, "well he gave you something also. Do you also want to have a go at him as well?"

"No, I may look like this, but I am a lot older than him and he reminds me too much of Minato, and I thought of him as a son if anything." Answered Tsunade. "Though I would say the books he gave me are the most suspicious of everything."

All put forward their own questioning glance, "oh you mean the medical research that one of his friends wrote, the one with Hayate's cure in it?" Yugao asked.

Nodding in confirmation, "Yes those, the work in them is too comprehensive for someone not related to a village, they're something from a medic on my level easily, and the work…" Tsunade's eyes shined with interest. "The work is extremely detailed and time consuming, his friend was definitely an expert, but most importantly the research is worth a fortune."

"Who knows maybe he is from the future, and all that work is what you would have done?" said Anko grinning, not knowing she was so close.

"Mother look it's the Yondaime, look, look" instantly all four women turned to the street to see what was happening.

* * *

><p>Naruto had left the Hokage tower intent on returning home to relax for the rest of the day, hearing a child's voice he thought he recognized he turned around and immediately stiffened. There in front of him was Sakura Haruno, the child of what she could become in the future. Fear appeared in Naruto's eyes for the first time in his life since he came to this new world, fear for everyone's lives around him as he looked in her eyes. Obviously it was an instinctual reaction but one that was born from the real thing as his hand twitched nearing his Kunai holster. He remembered how she died, he was responsible for her death, as he had sealed her after she had tried to take his own life.<p>

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Anko, Kurenai, Yugao and Tsunade were just inside one of the bars watching as Naruto met Sakura. Surprised at his reaction like he had found himself in a war zone and was ready to kill her any second if she moved in a suspicious manner.

Slowly regaining his bearings and calming down, mumbling something under his breath. Naruto walked up to her kneeling down, "I'm sorry, I am not the Yondaime, I am his brother Naruto Namikaze" he said as his mouth formed a smile.

Sakura blushed a little but stared into his eyes. Slowly Naruto got up and started to walk home a little quicker as if he was afraid to meet anyone else.

"Mother why was he scared, he seemed afraid to look at me?" she asked turning to her mother

All four women just stared at Naruto's back trying to decipher the reaction he presented from his encounter with a young girl.

* * *

><p>On the way home Naruto met up with Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha, though Sasuke was completely different from what he knew him to be in his original world.<p>

"Hello Itachi, and you must be Sasuke-san, Itachi's younger brother" he greeted trying to keep the familiarity out of his voice when greeting Sasuke.

"Hello Namikaze-san, Itachi-nii has told me a lot about you. He says you like the Uchiha clan and are a powerful ninja" for once in his life Naruto got to see Itachi blush but it was almost imperceptible.

"Just Naruto-san is fine and I will call you Sasuke-kun, but it is true I like the Uchiha clan, well only the ones that aren't arrogant in their power." Seeing his questioning glance, "some believe that the sharingan is everything, once they have it they will be powerful but the notion is foolhardy..."

"I have met a few Uchiha and if you rely on your eyes for everything then your skills will decline, overconfidence in a tool will lead to your death no matter the kind" finished Naruto.

"So you can beat an Uchiha while they use their eyes?"

Closing his eyes, "Yes I can, I have done it before, though someone else in this village can also do it…" seeing him raise both eyebrows in interest, "and he can do it using only taijutsu."

"Really? Can someone in the village do that?"

"I believe his name is Might Guy, he uses mainly taijutsu because of preference" answered Itachi.

"Can he beat them, I thought with the sharingan you can see through all movements aside from Jutsus" asked Sasuke.

"As Naruto was saying, most of the Uchiha think they're unbeatable if they have the sharingan, they don't bother training any of their other skills" answered Itachi.

"If you can see the moves but can't keep up with them, then your eyes are useless, that's why your brother is always training, Sasuke-kun" Naruto finished as they arrived at his home and Itachi nodded.

"So Itachi why have you come to see me, even bringing Sasuke-kun along?" questioned Naruto as he raised his eyebrow.

"My father mostly wanted to thank you for the warning, you have saved the Uchiha clan, but also he wanted to make connections with your clan…" before patting his brother "and my brother wanted to meet you." He said with a ghost of a smile on his face.

"Well you can come in and meet Naruko, she will be starting the academy with you Sasuke-kun next week" he offered.

"That would be better, Sasuke-kun needs some friends other than the ones in the Uchiha clan," answered Itachi for him. While Sasuke just grumbled under his breath.

Opening the door, "Naruko we have guests!" as they walked in, Naruko appeared in a flash to greet them, "Naruko this is Sasuke-kun, he will be in your class next week." Naruko grabbed Sasuke and disappeared with him into the living room.

Arriving there to see Kakashi without his book in hand with two students now sitting at attention, "Kakashi it's good to see you learned your lesson, I wouldn't want to punish you again for your foolishness" Naruto grinned.

Kakashi just sighed in loss, he wouldn't dare bring his books here for fear of them getting destroyed, or worse if Naruto found them.

"I think I am starting to enjoy teaching Naruko, as long as I get Yamato to make little wood clones and act out the scenes" responded Kakashi dryly.

Naruto went into the kitchen to start making dinner, "so Itachi what did you come here for?" he questioned emphasizing 'you' as he raised his eyebrow.

Itachi sighed before smirking, "I wanted to know what your plans were going to be…" glancing at the door quickly, "your presence here in the village may change things even more than they already have been changed, whether you like it or not you are almost on par with the Yondaime in reputation."

"You are correct, some events are preordained to happen and my presence will have a large effect in changing them. I will have to leave soon, until Naruko has almost finished at the academy at least, only then will the important events come to pass that I know of, in a predictable way." Naruto answered with a melancholic smile.

"Besides there are some plans I have to enact, and there are some people that I need to bring to the village, they're better off as members of Konoha instead of workers for Orochimaru" Naruto finished.

"When I leave, can you help look after Naruko, I don't trust Kakashi enough for this task, and it was hard enough letting him teach Naruko with him bringing his books out all the time." Naruto requested.

"I will, Sasuke seems quite taken with her, they will be good friends in the future, though from what I've heard Ms. Yuuhi and Ms. Uzuki seem quite taken with you and her," he said as he put on his Uchiha smirk. "I'm sure they can watch her instead."

"Normally yes, but some of the enemies will be above their skills, considering at one point you were one of them." Seeing his eyes widen, "Your abilities will only get better from this point on, you will eventually surpass Kakashi."

About to say something, Naruto put his hand up and interrupted, "You illness can be cured, just talk to Tsunade, she will be in the village for a while. If it is caught early then there will be no permanent effects and you will have a quick recovery" he reassured as he smiled.

Seeing him nod, "Good, there are very few people I would trust with Naruko and you are one of them, now it's almost time for dinner" Naruto left the kitchen to set the table. "I assume you are staying".

As he nodded, Naruto smiled and left the room to go and call the rest.

* * *

><p>Once again Naruto let everyone go home after dinner, Naruko went straight to bed after playing with Sasuke, and Naruto headed outside, only staying long enough to settle his emotions as he stood in front of his personal monument before heading inside.<p>

He lay there in his bed, staring at the ceiling going over what had occurred that day. Meeting Jiraiya and Tsunade was expected, though looking at them was completely different from sensing them.

Remembering their deaths, Jiraiya by Nagato in Amegakure, no at that point he was entirely Pein, his hands were to bloody to be considered Nagato. The emotions he felt when Fukusaku told him that Jiraiya was dead. The sense of loss, to know that his sensei had died but also more than that, he was a father figure. Tsunade as well, finding her bisected by a large tree, barely alive from the actions of Madara, watching the life slowly leave her eyes as she used all her energy to save the other four Kages as a true shinobi would. Seeing two people he had thought were dead standing right in front of him looking better than ever, but most of all, he knew them but they did not know him at all.

More importantly, _'my façade fell today, for the first time it fell completely in front of someone, and to no less than a child. I'm sorry Sakura, I had failed you and let you suffer worse than most would have.'_

**Flashback**

_"Naruto I am going out to check on the other camp," _

_"Yeah Sakura, hurry back" he replied. Not thinking anything of it. _

_Leaving on a mission alone after she had left, it's safer alone sometimes with his more destructive techniques._

_An hour later he came back to camp, arriving in the medic tent to greet Sakura only to find all the patients dead with Sakura standing there covered in blood. Asking Sakura "They were like this when I got here" she responded as she cried. Turning around, quickly searching the camp for the attacker, hearing screams from behind and rushing back. Finding Sakura with her hand covered in Hinata's blood as she sliced her neck open with a chakra scalpel, while Hinata had her hand piercing Sakura's chest. Hinata was crying, blood slowly dripping on the ground at her feet. Sakura removed her hand away from Hinata's neck, flicking the blood around her and Hinata… Hinata collapsed to her knees as her arms went slack falling to her sides, the light leaving her eyes as she falls forward from blood loss, heading to death's embrace._

_Sakura just turns towards him with a blank expression, though obviously it is forced, no tears are streaming down her face for killing her friend, only a blank look as ash, not blood… ash slowly fills the whole in her chest, feeling the pain in his chest knowing she was already dead. _

_The pain only grew as he realized what happened, what she had become, before she jumped at him and shoved the sword into him, piercing his heart in an effort to kill him._

**Flashback END**

**'Naruto we could not know she was resurrected, the body is almost the same except for physical characteristics which can be covered with a Henge or makeup'**

_'But I should have known Kurama, just like the Uchiha. I was arrogant… arrogant in my abilities and forgetting the fact that acts while being under control leave no negative intent.'_

**'She was manipulated, she had no negative emotions to sense at the time when you met her, and she only had orders. We could not have done anything to help her at that point.'**

_'I just keep remembering the eyes she had at the time, the blank expression but inside she would be sad to know she killed her friends with her own hands, whether she had been in control of her body or not.'_

**'We will prevent it from happening this time, the one who uses Edo Tensei are Orochimaru and Kabuto, they will get their turn to die soon Naruto' Kurama reassured.**

_'Thanks Kurama, you are right. We still have time ahead of us to prevent it from happening. The past is the past and can't be affected but the future is malleable.'_

Naruto slowly entered sleep with resolution in his eyes to destroy Edo Tensei when everything was over or earlier if he can help it, even with the optimistic attitude the nightmares continue to haunt him.

* * *

><p>"Nii-san, why is Naruto-san always sad, every time he looks at me, he…" stopping after running out of words.<p>

"He has lost many friends and family, in fact I think he has lost all of them, he returned to Konoha with nobody left. He is barely holding himself together as it is and you probably remind him of someone he knew." Seeing his understanding, "Just give him time, it may take years but eventually he will heal and create new bonds with others."

"I hope it is soon, I think Naruko-chan knows it too, but she hasn't said anything about it yet."

"Naruto just needs time, nothing else can heal loss better, and he might even leave the village for a while to recover." Sasuke's eyes widened at this.

"He will be back, Naruto knows that he needs time, he has been spending his time trying to get Naruko more friends so she will have an easier time in the village with his absence."

"But enough of that, he will deal with it in his own way. So let's head home," he finished as he picked up his pace.


End file.
